Welcome to my blog . . .  I’d like to share some of my recent articles, Op Eds, policy suggestions and musings, as well as some recent interviews, both print and audio. I’d also like to share some excerpts from the TV show, called Positive Spin, of which I am the UN and Foreign Affairs Correspondent. I’d love to hear your comments.  Thank you, Kim

Please see my recent articles below, entitled:

1) Yes We Can!    2) Social Entrepreneurs as Obama’s Agents of Change   3) The Spirit of Ubuntu in America    4) Time for a New Human Rights Agenda    5) Time for Greater Support for the UN   6) Peace Day: The Economics of Peace   7) 9 Steps to Vitality in Aging    8) The Third Act for Women: Finding Meaning, Joy and Fulfillment Over 50.

YES WE CAN!

By Kimberly Weichel

I was profoundly moved by the election of President Obama as our new president. As I reflect on why this election is so significant for me and for our country, I find there are many layers of meaning:

•  President Obama offers hope at a time of wide hopelessness.

•  He brings the promise of change most of us have hungered for after 8 very difficult years. A great ray of sunlight is penetrating the darkness, and this light is spreading everywhere.

•  He symbolizes the potential that America offers. His father 60 years ago could not have been served at a restaurant, yet today he is president. This potential is there for everyone.

•  His election has remarkably united America around something positive – ie. a hopeful direction for our nation. He has also catalyzed a national conversation within groups and communities across the country.

•  He calls upon us to stretch – to go beyond petty differences, party politics, and the need to be right and to ignite a spirit of unity and collaboration – to choose unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

•  His ‘Yes You Can’ message is very empowering to us all in our own lives and in our collective life as a nation. It represents possibility, dreams, and hopes. We can each translate this message to ‘Yes, I Can’. It transforms the old government philosophy of “No You Can’t” to “Let’s work together so we can”.

•  He is a bridger of differences – he is black and he is white, he is from America  and from Kenya and Indonesia. He speaks to all Americans when he says there is not a black America and a white America and latino America and asian America, but the United States of America. He speaks to all nations and cultures when he says that America is a friend of each nation. He speaks to the Muslim world by saying “we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and respect”.

•  He evokes a spirit of service and reminds us of the price and promise of citizenship – that each of us are needed if we are to succeed, that we each matter and that our actions make a difference.

•  He models shared responsibility with others and with life - in healthy, respectful and loving ways that helps create an environment within which we feel safe, loved and encouraged to offer our best. Responsibility is the keynote of the soul, and he is an expression of the soul of America.

•  He raises the bar for us, to think out of the box, to see new possibilities, to dream dreams, to go beyond more of the same, to overcome apathy, and to honor the core values that constitute the foundation of this country.

•  He raises the bar in government, outlining a new code of ethics for government, and aims to end secrecy and require transparency in all dealings.

•  He inspires us to place trust in him and his team as they tackle the enormous problems facing this country. This evokes confidence despite uncertain times.

•  He walks his talk.  He found his roots and his voice in the community organizing tradition that fueled many of the social justice movements, which he still carries with him. He cares, he acts and he follows through. He is a great role model for us all.

•  He reminds us of the importance of honoring our ancestors – how hard they worked and what they had to endure for us to have the lives we have today.

In many ways we were all being sworn in to our own highest potential at this election. We can ask ourselves - How can we each raise the bar in our own lives, including our words and actions? What is our own code of ethics, what secrecies do we need to overcome, and how can we be more transparent? How am I serving? How can I be more collaborative? Do I walk my talk?

I rejoice in this new era and all it means for ourselves, our community, our nation and our world.

YES WE CAN!

Social Entrepreneurs as Obama’s Agents of Change

By Wilford Welch and Kimberly Weichel

On the campaign trail, President Obama stated that he would create an office of  social entrepreneurship, possibly in the White House, to support a new era of personal responsibility, and service. This is now becoming a reality.

The United States faces economic, environmental and social challenges so severe that “game changing” solutions are called for. We are no longer in a world where  “business as usual”, or “government as usual” can cope with the challenges we are facing. We need fresh thinking by people not afraid to challenge conventional wisdom and approaches.

Social entrepreneurs think “out of the box” and explore unorthodox approaches to critical challenges. They focus on a big vision, take risks if the potential results seem justified, seldom take ‘no’ for an answer, and know how to collaborate. As Ashoka founder Bill Drayton is fond of saying, “social entrepreneurs do not give people fish, or teach them how to fish, they seek to change the fishing industry”.

While business entrepreneurs develop products and services for the marketplace to earn a profit, social entrepreneurs often use market forces to solve social and environmental challenges. Their primary goal is to solve a problem, not make money for themselves. And, they are happy to have others replicate their approaches. They see themselves as change agents rather than members of the status quo, collaborators rather than competitors.

Take Van Jones, for example, who was recently appointed as special adviser for green jobs, enterprise and innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Van is the founder of Green For All. While others see poverty in America, and our dependence on foreign oil, global warming and the need to jump start our economy as separate challenges, Van sees them as problems that can best be addressed in tandem. As a result, Green for All is working to generate “green color jobs” such as installing solar panels that will lead to enhanced skills for the poor, safer streets, and healthier communities. This in turn will result in a healthier economy, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and help curb global warming.

President Obama has consistently stated that the problems we face will only be solved if everyone takes actions that will make them part of the solution not part of the problem. While such a message might have fallen on deaf ears a decade ago, they resonate with a large segment of the population today. Most Americans are well aware that we have been living beyond our means both as individuals and as a nation. That awareness has accelerated as clear evidence has been presented that global warming is real and may have catastrophic consequences. In addition, most Americans recognize that the federal and state governments do not have the creativity to solve our many social and environmental challenges on their own, despite the billions the administration is now spending to address these challenges.

The social entrepreneurial movement is the cutting edge of the “civil society movement”, made up of “private people doing public good”. It is arguably the fastest growing movement in human history, made up of millions of individuals taking actions, big and small, that address social and environmental challenges. Until recently these individuals and the important contributions they are making, were given little notice by the mainstream media, because their initiatives were not considered sexy or dramatic.

But, no longer. Take Greg Mortenson, whose passion for peace through education, has now facilitated building over 75 schools in remote parts of Pakistan, and was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Or John Wood, founder of Room to Read, who has worked tirelessly to provide educational access to 10 million children in the developing world. There are more and more of these remarkable examples that inspire others to take action rather than sit on the sidelines. Courses on social entrepreneurship are being taught in most business schools, and newspaper articles and television programs are giving social entrepreneurs more coverage.

The establishment of an office of Social Entrepreneurship in the White House suggests that this administration is serious about exploring new ideas to solve the tough challenges we are facing. Social entrepreneurs are the agents of change whose time has come.

Wilford Welch’s new book is entitled “The Tactics of Hope – How Social Entrepreneurs are Changing our World”.

Kimberly Weichel is a catalyst for change, author, and co-founder of entrepreneurial organizations. www.kimweichel.org. 

THE SPIRIT OF UBUNTU IN AMERICA

By Kimberly Weichel

 Ubuntu is an African word that embodies so much of what we seek in society today. In the Xhosa and Zulu languages ubuntu means “people are people through other people.” It is the spirit of oneness, unity, and compassion, and expresses itself in a desire to help others and include everyone. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa says, in ubuntu “my humanity is caught up inextricably in yours. When I dehumanize you, I inexorably dehumanize myself. The solitary human being is a contradiction in terms.” And Nelson Mandela explains “The spirit of ubuntu – that profound African sense that we are human only through the humanity of other human beings – is not a parochial phenomenon, but has added globally to our common search for a better world.”

The call for our time is to nurture the spirit of ubuntu in these United States of America. This means building on the spirit and principles our country was founded on - the principles of fairness, equality, justice, freedom and democracy. As we embark on a new administration with new leadership, this is an ideal time to reignite these values and principles into our government and society. Our Constitution begins with “We the People” - we entrust our government to govern “of the people, by the people, and for the people”. President Obama said it well in his inauguration speech, “What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task.”

Ubuntu is the spirit of peace - it’s the spirit of win-win - meaning that if a solution doesn’t work for you, then it doesn’t work for me either. Yet it goes beyond Western concepts of me and you to “I evolve and grow because of you.” It refutes our past decade morais of “Look out for No.1”, the competitive motto “it’s about winning”, and the capitalist value of “more is better”. Our ability to be fully alive and fulfilled is integrally linked with the actions, perceptions and attitudes of others. It is the spirit of cooperation in action.

What if peace, well-being and the spirit of ubuntu were the organizing principles of our government and society? How different would our policies be? How can we build bridges of peace in our communities, schools, mass media, workplaces, and our country? How would this affect the climate within this country, and the reputation and relationships externally? How do we advance a culture of peace?

Peace is commonly defined as the opposite of war. But peace is much more than the absence of violence. Peace is the dynamic presence of truth, justice, sustainability and well-being for all. Peace is a process - there is no instant method. It must be developed over time. Peace is a state of mind, a way of being. It is also a path of daily action. Peace is deep connection with self and others. Peace is personal, political, spiritual and practical.

In order to make peace an organizing principle we need to understand the root causes of conflict, develop a cadre of trained personnel, require peacebuilding courses in our schools, establish structures of peace in our government and in society, and learn to value peace as a core tenet. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated clearly, it is time to focus on diplomacy and development, two of the three Ds of our foreign policy.

The principles of ubuntu begin with the recognition of two essential elements of what it means to be human as our societies navigate together in this changing world:

The human spirit: In addition to survival needs, every human being has a fundamental need to lead a life of dignity, meaning and purpose - to know that our lives make a difference.

Interconnectedness: Our actions are shaped by and affect all other people and our natural environment. Our responsibility extends beyond our immediate lives and families to the entire human family. Issues of hunger and poverty are not problems of one country or another but are global issues, and we must solve them as global citizens.

We live in a world of vast differences that truly enrich our lives. Yet it is important that we learn how to effectively work with and honor these differences, and how to reduce misunderstandings and conflict so prevalent today. When we transform conflict by peaceful and nonviolent means we deepen the relationship with ourselves and with the other. It is time to end the cycle of utilizing force and violence to attempt to end or resolve conflict.

Today much work has been done to cultivate initiatives and organizations that do just that, and that help to establish a culture of peace and spirit of ubuntu. The following initiatives are extraordinary examples of that spirit:

1) The United Nations International Day of Peace - http://www.internationaldayofpeace.org

2) The Department of Peace and Non-Violence (HR808) - http://www.thepeacealliance.org

3) The National Peace Academy - http://www.nationalpeaceacademy.us

4) OH State Resolution Commission - http://disputeresolution.ohio.gov

5) 3D Security Initiative  - http://www.3dsecurity.org

6) United States Institute for Peace  - http://www.usip.org

7) Peace and Justice Studies Association - http://www.peacejusticestudies.org

Association for Conflict Resolution - http://www.acrnet.org

These are just a few of the many initiatives that support a foundation of peace in our society – so critical at a time when violence continues to escalate, unemployment is rising, foreclosures are increasing and uncertainty abounds. In 2004 research from the World Health Organization stated that the cost of interpersonal violence in the USA was $300 billion dollars annually. While adding more prisons, weapons and police may be necessary, it does not solve the escalation of violence nor establish a culture of peace. It is imperative, starting at an early age, that we offer the structures, tools, courses and departments in schools, and throughout society, that effectively teach and enhance ways to communicate skillfully, understand differences, negotiate, govern and do business in the spirit of cooperation.

Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey states it well when she says, “We must do everything possible to prevent wars from happening in the first place. In fact, war is the result of failed diplomacy. It is an outdated, calamitous way of resolving international crises, and it doesn’t make us safer.” And President Franklin D. Roosevelt stated, “More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginning of all wars - yes, an end to this brutal, inhuman and thoroughly impractical method of settling the differences between governments.”

We stand on a threshold of possibility in a moment of crisis. We have the tools and we know what to do; may we have the wisdom and courage to act in accordance with our better nature. We stand with President Obama as he states unequivocally, “America’s moral example must be the bedrock of our global leadership.”

As the African saying goes, “When there is Peace in the individual, there is Peace in the family. When there is Peace in the family, there is Peace in the community. When there is Peace in the community, there is Peace in the nation. When there is Peace in the nation, there is Peace in the world.”

Time for A New Human Rights Agenda

By Kimberly Weichel and Kirk Boyd

 December 10^th is the 60^th anniversary of Human Rights Day, a milestone in the movement to protect people’s rights and freedoms around the world. This UN Day has a special significance for Marin County, since UN headquarters were originally planned for Strawberry Point, and there is a plaque in Muir Woods to honor the UN Founders. Fortunately, we have a new President elect, Barack Obama, to help us achieve the enforceable human rights that Eleanor Roosevelt, with others, envisioned with the creation of the Universal Declaration. Here is what our new President should do:

Follow in the Footsteps of Franklin Roosevelt.

The Universal Declaration enshrined the Four Freedoms that Franklin Roosevelt described in an earlier State of the Union address: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear. Roosevelt stated that the Four Freedoms were intended for “everyone, in every country.” President Obama should make a public statement that the Four Freedoms continue to be a valuable guide.

Take a Seat on the Human Rights Council.

The United States was a leader drafting the Universal Declaration. This is a proud piece of American history that harkens all the way back to our Declaration of Independence and the principle that we stand for fundamental rights for all people, whoever they are, wherever they are. It was a tragic breach of our culture and our heritage when the Bush Administration left our seat on the very body that created the Universal Declaration. It’s time to ask our international community to let us rejoin them at the table.

Make Human Rights Enforceable.

We should plan to make the Universal Declaration enforceable. There is a project at the Berkeley law school, the 2048 Project, which is working to draft an international framework for enforceable human rights that can be in place by the year 2048, the 100th anniversary of the Universal Declaration. You can participate in the creation of this framework by going to the website at www.2048.berkeley.edu. Let your voice be heard!

Ratify the International Covenant on Economic and Social Rights.

Freedom from Want includes economic and social rights such as education and health care. President elect Obama said during a debate that “health care is a right,” and it is. It’s time for these rights to be put on an equal footing with rights such as free speech and freedom of religion. This is also a security issue. Abject poverty is fertile ground for despots. The US should ratify the Covenant on Economic and Social Rights.

Ratify the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW):

This Convention declares equal rights for women “in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field” and requires nations to take “all appropriate measures” to ensure equality. It was passed by the UN General Assembly in 1979 and was approved by Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2002, but there has not been a floor vote.

Ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child:

This Convention incorporates the full range of human rights - civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights - for children. It came into force on September 2, 1990, and to date, 193 countries have ratified it, except the United States and Somalia. The U.S. has signed the Convention, but not ratified it.

Fulfil the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs):

In 2000, world leaders committed their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and set out a series of time-bound targets, with a deadline of 2015. The eight MDGs– which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education – form a blueprint that has galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest. The U.S. needs to meet its goals in each category.

When asked about the Universal Declaration, Eleanor Roosevelt said “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” She was right. “Yes we can” also applies to enforceable human rights.

Kimberly Weichel, a Tiburon resident, is president of the United Nations Association of Marin and San Francisco, and director of the Institute for Peacebuilding.  Kirk Boyd, a Mill Valley resident, is Executive Director of the 2048 Project at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. 

Time for Greater Support for the UN

William Miller and Kimberly Weichel

President Barack Obama’s “inbox” certainly is not suffering from a paucity of suggestions on how to deal with both domestic and international crises. Yet high among them needs to be greater support for the United Nations. The good news is that he nominated Susan Rice, a highly-competent career diplomat, US Permanent Representative to the UN, and elevated the position to Cabinet-level status. Being a member of the President’s Cabinet is extremely important because UN issues are now on-par with the other key issues and not lumped in with or sublimated under other issues.

Ms. Rice is off to a good start by emphasizing Obama’s pledge to strengthen the relationship between the US and the UN. Ambassador Rice also stressed the US paying its legal UN dues in full and on-time. The US will soon be $1.6 billion in arrears to the UN and in danger of reverting to its unflattering moniker of the 1980s and 90s of being an “international deadbeat” by not paying its legal financial obligations. The US benefits more overall from the UN than any other country.

To strengthen the UN and enhance international treaties and initiatives, we recommend:

1) Strengthen global nonproliferation and the disarmament regime. The US can play a substantive role in 2010 during the review of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty by emphasizing the commitments made by both the nuclear and non-nuclear countries to make sure they adhere to their original agreements.

2)  Halt the proposed anti-missile system in Poland and the Czech Republic. This system will not achieve its goals, will alienate the Russians, and will cost close to $9-13 billion, according to a recent Congressional Budget Office study.

3)  Ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The recent civil unrest in Pakistan emphasizes the frightening scenario that could occur if Al-Qaeda or the Taliban got access to Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. Arms reduction at all levels must be a high priority.

4) Support the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to reduce abject poverty affecting 2 billion people, reverse the AIDs epidemic and other diseases, secure universal primary education, reduce child and female mortality rates, battle environmental degradation, empower women - cooperating internationally to achieve these goals. The US should play a leadership role in rallying international support.

5) Play an active role in helping draft the follow-up agreement to the Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2012 that will confront the ill-effects of global warming and climate change. As a run-up to the Copenhagen Climate Conference in December of 2009, both UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and President Obama stressed that 2009 would be the year for climate change and agreed that climate change is an “existential threat” to the world.

            6) The US should seek a seat on the Human Rights Council (HRC) in the upcoming HRC election of May 2009. The HRC must have more hands-on leadership to broaden the agenda dominated by a handful of countries. The US, now that it is moving to improve its own human rights problems with the Patriot Act and Guantanamo Bay atrocities, can be more of a moral compass for the HRC.

7) The US Congress should ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Law of the Sea Treaty,  (CLOST). CEDAW and CRC both inculcate major human rights provisions that are extended to everyone in the US and guaranteed by the Constitution. The US is only one of a few countries, such as Somalia, that has not signed on to these treaties.

The US should join the International Criminal Court that pursues individuals who have committed genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity. The concept of “complementarity,” which allows a national court to deal with any of its citizens accused of these crimes, negates the bogus argument that US troops who inadvertently committed some crime would be hauled before the ICC.

 To its credit, the Obama Administration recently restored US support for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) by contributing $50 million to promote safe pregnancies and childbirths, as well as HIV/AIDs prevention and gender equality in over 150 countries and territories around the world.

With massive problems worldwide, it will take a multilateral forum and many countries’ involvement at the UN to bring the key players and resources together to confront these challenges. Most challenges today are global ones, and will take collaborative action working through the only organization that has the capability to deal with them collectively. During his campaign, candidate Obama said, “No country has a greater stake in a strong United Nations than the United States.” That phrase is even more accurate and timely today than it was a year ago.

William Miller is past chair of UNA-USA’s Council of Chapter and Division Presidents, accredited journalist for the Washington International and moderator of Global Connections Television. Kimberly Weichel is president of the San Francisco chapter of UNA, UN Correspondent for Positive Spin TV, and director of the Institute for Peacebuilding.

Peace Day: The Economics of Peace

By Chic Dambach and Kimberly Weichel

Today, September 21, is the International Day of Peace. It was established by the United Nations in 1981 to “commemorate and strengthen the ideals of Peace both within and among all nations and peoples.”  This is an opportunity to reflect personally and collectively on how we live peace in our families, communities, workplaces and in our world, and to take specific corrective steps where needed.

As President Obama addresses the UN General Assembly this week on the importance of peace, it is also an opportunity to examine and dispel the myths around peace and war so prevalent in our society. We often hear the comments – “War is good for the economy, war is inevitable, war is patriotic”. Yet we rarely hear the affirming truth that peace is good for the economy, peace is inevitable, and peace is patriotic. We know it is. Consider the evidence:

Contrary to popular mythology, war is not good for anyone’s economy. If it were, the US would be thriving as we have been fighting two wars for almost eight years.  War is a serious drain on the US economy and it is devastating to the economies where the fighting takes place, interfering with education, health, business, personal safety and human well-being. Oxford University economist Paul Collier in “The Bottom Billion” writes, “Civil war tends to reduce growth by around 2.3% per year, so the typical seven-year war leaves a country around 15% poorer than it would have been.” Business suffers, people suffer, and government suffers.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will cost American tax payers at least a trillion dollars, with little to no impact on employment or economic productivity. If those same tax dollars were to be invested in reducing the debt or on domestic infrastructure development, education and health care, more jobs would be created and productivity would improve.

The obvious corollary is that peace pays. A recent economic report entitled “Defining Peace Industries and Calculating the Potential Size of a Peace Gross World Product by Country and Economic Sector”, found the total positive effect of peace in 2007 could have been some  $7.2 trillion – if the world had been at peace. This net economic gain amounts to an addition of 9 percent to the world economy. The peace dividend varies from a modest 3% in Japan, to 80% for countries like Cambodia, Guatemala, or Haiti to doubling for conflict-ridden nations like Zimbabwe.

For those who argue that war is inevitable, we point to the Global Peace Index.  It identifies dozens of countries, large and small, that thrive in peace. The Sydney based Institute for Economics and Peace, working with the Economist Intelligence Unit in London, quantifies the peacefulness of nations based on 23 indicators to produce a ranking from most to least peaceful.  The raw measures include such variables as: number of external and internal conflicts; number of deaths from organized internal/external conflict; displaced people as percentage of the population; level of violent crime; jailed population per capita, and military expenditures as a percentage of GDP. New Zealand ranked #1, while the US ranked # 83 (out of 144) and Iraq ranked last. European and Scandinavian countries rank high along with Japan, Canada and Chile. 

On November 1-3, a Global Symposium of Peaceful Nations will honor and study the most peaceful nations in nine regions of the world. Libraries and journals are filled with books and studies of war, but the qualities and characteristics of peaceful nations have not been examined. For the first time, the world will know not only which nations are living in peace but also how they achieved it. These models of peaceful behavior will be shared with the public and with governments worldwide to demonstrate that peace is possible and the pathway is marked. www.peacefulnations.org

There is a growing global network of citizen-based organizations with the skills to help people, societies and nation states prevent and mitigate violent conflicts, and they are becoming remarkably effective. To build a more peaceful world, we feel a reasonable investment of resources needs to be made to enable these organizations to scale up and have the capacity to meet the demand. Just the cost of the next F-22 (which has never been used in combat) would make an enormous difference.

Ultimately war is absolutely needless. No one wins. Systems and mechanisms have been established to resolve conflicts through dialogue, negotiation, and mediation.  Over 90% of all violent conflicts are now resolved through negotiation rather than conquest. Let’s use the wealth of wisdom and expertise to by-pass the warfare and proceed directly to dialogue, negotiation and mediation to solve differences BEFORE they fester into violence. The International Day of Peace is a good time to start.

Chic Dambach is President and CEO of the Alliance for Peacebuilding (allianceforpeacebuilding.org)  Kimberly Weichel is co-founder and Director of the Institute for Peacebuilding (kimweichel.org).

9 Steps to Vitality in Aging

Justine Toms and Kimberly Weichel

 Why is it that some people seem so vital when they are older - looking and acting much younger than their years - yet others seem old before their time? What are the qualities and practices that keep us young and fit? How do we maintain passion, radiance and vitality as we age? Justine Toms and Kimberly Weichel share their wisdom and experience on these vexing questions.

1) Life-Long Learning

There is a cultural assumption that some day we will grow up. Educator and author of Spot of Grace, Dawna Markova questions this assumption. She asks, “But then what?” In fact, most of us never truly feel as if we are “grown up.” That is a good thing. It means that we are continuing in the process of learning.

In surveys done with people who are living an active and vibrant life into their eighties, nineties, and beyond, they found that one of the most common characteristics is that they are life-long learners. No matter what their age, they continue to be excited and curious about life and about learning new things. Science has proven that the brain has the ability to re-wire itself. Thinking, learning, and acting actually change the brain’s physical structure, anatomy, and functional organization. The physiology of the brain changes from top to bottom, called neuroplasticity or neurogenises. Markova says that life-long learning keeps us healthy. She states,”[O]ne of the things that keeps us growing forward is a state of wonder. This state of. ‘I don’t know.’ . . wonder promulgates growth.”

Indeed, the benefits we receive when we consciously apply ourselves to lifelong learning are enormous. It can influence our health, our outlook on life, and our social interactions. A Chinese proverb states, “Learning is a treasure which will follow its owner everywhere.”

“In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. ” Eric Hoffer

2) Finding What Has Heart and Meaning

All of us want to live a life with meaning and one of the best ways to insure that outcome is to know we are making a contribution to the lives of others. This can manifest itself in as many ways as there are people. It could be one’s life work, or some volunteer work in addition to how we earn a living. It might be serving meals at a senior center, or picking up garbage in a parking lot. One might find deep satisfaction by planting milkweed in our garden thereby contributing to the health of the butterflies.

What any of these activities have in common is that they take us outside ourselves. One’s life opens up and becomes more joyful when contributing to the lives of others. A life filled with meaning often entails serving others in some way that has meaning both for us and for them. In these stressed-filled times our tendency may be to go into isolation. More than ever we must take great strides to connect with others rather than isolate ourselves. This will give our lives meaning, deep comfort, and a sense of belonging.

As Albert Schweitzer has said, “I do not know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”

3) Importance of Friends

Friends are our support system. Growing up, friends were a big part of forming our personalities and supporting who we have become. Friends are people who like us in spite of our faults and who listen to us and tell us the truth. Friends support our decisions and tell us when we’re foolish. They laugh with us and share our grief. They are companions and share our interests. They argue with us and stimulate our minds.

Friends offer acceptance and emotional support. They also help occasionally with the practical aspects of day-to-day living, cooking a meal (or taking us out), helping with chores, or giving us a lift when we need one. Friends also are there to offer advice, an ear to listen, or a shoulder to cry on. Friendships help us feel connected, less isolated and help reduce stress. According to Pamela M. Peeke, MD, a professor of medicine at the University of Maryland, friends can even bolster our immune systems.

There are many different forms in which to share together with friends. Beyond sharing one on one, circles are a popular way for women to share together on an ongoing basis. Jean Shinoda Bolen inspired women in her book “Millionth Circle” to form circles as vehicles of societal and psycho spiritual change. Another form is Salons - gatherings for sharing food and dialogue in homes. Salons are an enriching way to share and deepen friendships over time.

A friend is someone who knows your song and sings it to you when you have forgotten it. - An African saying

4) Take Time to Celebrate Small and Large Accomplishments

One has only to look at nature to realize that it has something to say to us about the power of celebration. Have you ever wondered why there are so many different species of birds? Or so many varieties of flowers? Maybe nature is trying to tell us that this precious planet of ours is all about celebration. Award-winning architect and co-author of Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, William McDonough has suggested, “Those who celebrate the most are the true evolutionary winners. Nature is all about fierce celebration.”

It’s important to take time to celebrate both the small and large accomplishments in our lives. Pause at the end of the day and take a moment to ask yourself, “How much did I enjoy the day?” More often than not we are looking towards the future and to all the things we must do rather than what we have completed. In fact, often times we find that most of the things we accomplish go unnoticed. The ritual of making lists can often help expand our enjoyment of life. No one can deny the deep satisfaction we get when we are able to complete something. Or, for some, getting away from lists and being in the moment is a way to celebrate the preciousness of life.

Take the time to celebrate all you’ve achieved and enjoyed!

5) Importance of Humor

Studies show that humor and laughter can prevent heart disease, boost the immune system and produce cancer fighting cells while making one feel optimistic and energized. It is a lifestyle choice and if it were a pill it would be a miracle drug.

Dr. Goodman, director of The Humor Project, defines humor as, “creative self expression that is an attitude, a perspective, a way of looking at life and a way of laughing at life. You can’t always control situations around you but you can control your internal responses to them with humor.”

Laughter activates the release of endorphins in our brains, the body’s own pain-reducing substance. It can raise morale, enhance the immune system, increase oxygen consumption, and benefit our positive connection to others.

So, next time you are down, try not to take things too seriously – take a laughative!

6) Positive Attitude and Gratitude

The way we think affects all aspects of our lives. It affects our attitude, our behavior, our relationships, and our actions. A positive attitude helps us better deal with the ups and downs of daily life, and particularly with all of the changes associated with aging.

A positive attitude manifests in a number of ways, including creative thinking, optimism, and motivation to accomplish our goals. We’ve all been inspired by stories of those who have been able to overcome enormous obstacles by choosing to have a positive attitude and not giving up. These people are choosing happiness and are looking at problems as blessings in disguise. Believing in ourselves and in our abilities, displaying self-esteem and confidence, we can accomplish great things. The Dalai Lama often talks about the need for us to have confidence in ourselves, “With realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.”

What we focus on grows. If we dwell on what isn’t working, that will increase, yet if we focus on what is working, what we are grateful for, that will increase as well. Practicing gratitude is a powerful way to increase happiness because it reminds us of all that is working in our lives.

Consider writing daily in a gratitude journal. Each evening write down three things from that day for which you are grateful. This practice will have an instant physiological effect on your body: your breathing will deepen, your blood flow will be less constricted, and your brain will receive more oxygen. It is like a magic pill. Test it out for yourself - see if it makes a difference in your life.

Cultivating the practice of gratitude is a simple reflection that gives great spiritual benefit. It does not deny the difficulties of life we all face, but it will give us a break from feelings of scarcity and fear. Sometimes it is helpful to switch our focus, like changing stations on the television, to the gratitude channel.

Try having an attitude of gratitude and see what changes!

7) Spiritual Centering Practice

In these chaotic and stressful times it is immensely important for us to pay attention to how we are caring for ourselves. This care includes taking time for our spiritual practice, whatever that might be for us. It may or may not be related to a religious practice. We need to be able to anchor ourselves in the world. Taking time for introspection and contemplation will give us the energy to stay involved in all of the different layers and levels of our lives whether it be our families, our work, or our community. This time of introspection keeps us from being overwhelmed by the tremendous challenges we face today.

Our spiritual practice might include daily mediation, yoga, prayer, or time in silence. It might include going to a church, synagogue, mosque, or other religious place. It might include being in nature and talking walks. It might include spending time playing music, singing in a choir, or practicing art. It might include taking time to read good books. Any way that we can spend quality time doing what we love in a way that nurtures us and feeds our soul is very important.

We are all spiritual beings having a human experience.

8) Adapting to Loss and Staying Flexible

Developing an ability to adapt to loss is something we all have to face. Loss is not a respecter of age. As we age, we will be confronted with many types of loss: the loss of a loved one, a relationship, an animal companion, a job. The list is long. Collectively we feel the stress as we go through major worldwide, cultural change in a postmodern world. It is only natural to want to cling to the old because it is familiar.

There are many practices to help us in adjusting to loss. One of them is the feng-shui practice called the nine-day, clutter- clearing practice. For nine consecutive days we either move, throw away, or give away twenty-seven items. This begins to set up an energy of flow in our life. It will bring more spaciousness to our day and for each item we pass on, tapping into the process of letting go. It is important to take a moment to savor the freedom of letting something go. This small practice will help us when it comes to the bigger losses that come to us.

Also, being able to stay flexible with the changes that will inevitably occur as we age is very important to our health and well-being. We know our bodies will decline, our memory will lapse, our eyesight will worsen, our emotions might alter, yet this is all a natural part of aging. While we might wish we were younger, or wish these shifts didn’t happen, we also need to accept what is and do what we can to make the best of these inescapable passages.

Being flexible might mean changing our exercise routine from jogging to walking, lap swims to water aerobics, or adding yoga to stay limber. It might mean cutting back on some activities or commitments to conserve energy and spend more time with family or time reading. Being adaptable means staying in the present and not being stuck wishing for past abilities, relationships or circumstances.

Appreciating what is – and adapting to our changing bodies and circumstances - is a gift!

9) Regular Exercise

Many of us know the joys of being in the out of doors and communing with nature through many types of physical exercise. We feel more alive, happier and healthier. Regular exercise is good for us in many ways. The Mayo Clinic cites 7 benefits of regular physical activity:

a. It improves our mood. A workout at the gym or a brisk 30-minute walk can help us calm down. Exercise stimulates various brain chemicals, which may leave us feeling happier and more relaxed. We’ll also look and feel better when we exercise regularly, which can boost our confidence and improve our self-esteem. Exercise even reduces feelings of depression and anxiety.

b. Exercise combats chronic diseases. Worried about heart disease? Hoping to prevent osteoporosis? Regular exercise might be the ticket. Regular exercise can help us prevent - or manage - high blood pressure. Our cholesterol will benefit, too. Regular exercise can help us prevent type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and certain types of cancer.

c. Exercise helps us manage our weight. Want to drop those excess pounds? Try walking or other physical activities. When we exercise, we burn calories. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk during your lunch break. Turn off the TV and take a brisk walk. Dedicated workouts are great, but activity we accumulate throughout the day helps us burn calories, too.

d. Exercise strengthens our heart and lungs. Winded by grocery shopping or household chores? Regular exercise can leave us breathing easier. Exercise delivers oxygen and nutrients to our tissues. Regular exercise helps our entire cardiovascular system - the circulation of blood through our heart and blood vessels - work more efficiently, giving us more energy to do the things we enjoy.

e. Exercise promotes better sleep. Struggling to fall asleep? Or stay asleep? It might help to boost our physical activity during the day. A good night’s sleep can improve our concentration, productivity and mood. Regular exercise can help us fall asleep faster and deepen our sleep.

f. Exercise can put the spark back into our sex life. Too tired to have sex? Or feeling too out of shape? Regular exercise can leave us feeling energized and looking better, which may have a positive effect on our sex life. Exercise improves our circulation, which can lead to more satisfying sex. And men who exercise regularly are less likely to have problems with erectile dysfunction than are men who don’t exercise, especially as they get older.

g. Exercise can be fun! Wondering what to do on a Saturday afternoon? Looking for an activity that suits the entire family? Take a ballroom dancing class. Check out a local climbing wall or hiking trail. Push the kids or grandkids on the swings or climb with them on the jungle gym. Plan a neighborhood kickball or touch football game. Find an activity you enjoy, and go for it. If you get bored, try something new. If we’re moving, it counts!

Exercise helps us feel more alive, happier and healthier!

Authors:

Justine Willis Toms is co-founder and managing producer of  New Dimensions World Broadcasting Network/Media, and author of Small Pleasures: Finding Grace in a Chaotic World and co-author with Michael Toms of True Work: Doing What You Love and Loving What You Do. www.newdimensions.org.

Kimberly Weichel is a social pioneer, educator, author and specialist in global communications, leadership and conflict resolution, assisting individuals and organizations to realize their potential. She is co-author of “Healing the Heart of the World” and director of the Institute for Peacebuilding. www.kimweichel.org. 

The Third Act for Women:

Finding Meaning, Joy and Fulfillment Over 50 

By Beverly Scott and Kimberly Weichel

We are the first generation of women who have had careers for most of our lives. We are living lives that most of our parents and grandparents didn’t have and, perhaps, couldn’t imagine. We are entering a period of life that is virtually uncharted, a time in which we are free from social expectations and reduced family obligations, with the freedom, resources and desire to engage in new activities with meaning and purpose. Science and medical advances have extended our years with generally better health than previous generations. This gives us the opportunity to turn our dreams into realities, to consider options previously considered impractical, and to prioritize how we want to spend our time. Now, it’s up to us to decide and plan for our continued vitality.

In fact for many today, retirement is a “roleless” role. This is true in large part because the traditional notion of retirement fits with a worn out notion of aging that conceives of it primarily in terms of disengagement and decline. The news reports that “old” is being redefined as more of us are living to be over 100. The Department of Labor reports in 2006 over 6% of Americans over 75 work. So, today how appropriate is retirement for a vital person with 30-40 years left to live?

We use the metaphor of the theater to ignite people’s imagination. Our growing up years constitute the first act, our second act includes our middle years focusing on career and family, and our third act (often for the first time) is ours to choose - we have an opportunity to create a better quality of life, leave a legacy or pursue our life-long dreams.

What is Waiting in the Wings?

The years ahead beyond 50 offer exciting opportunities and infinite possibilities. Yet, this less structured time of choice can also be frustrating and overwhelming if we have not adequately planned and prepared for it. It is best to take some time to prepare for the transition from your second act to your Third Act. Preparing for your Third Act begins first by reviewing your second act (and maybe your first act), and exploring the scripts (themes or patterns) from your work and career, your family, volunteer and social life. What scripts can you build upon? Which ones are liabilities for your Third Act that you need to adjust or learn to manage differently? What patterns or beliefs get in your way from doing your best, what relationships, job and other commitments are a drain and not life enhancing? Taking stock of our second act, and making adjustments where necessary, is a critical step in moving fully into our Third Act.

Science tells us that most of our aging is influenced by our lifestyle. The good news is that we can make changes that will enhance our lives. We have found it helpful to raise questions about our current lives– the physical, emotional, professional, personal and spiritual dimensions—to clarify for ourselves what is waiting in the wings before we leave a full time job, change careers or move– and launch our Third Act.

Physical

We know that many of us have two, three, four or more decades of life remaining and that each generation is more active with more health and vitality than ever before. According to Trends reported by Audio Tech Business Summaries (9-15-2005) average life spans are projected to reach 88 for women by 2065. By 2010 there will be 131,000 Americans over age 100 compared to 37,000 twenty years ago. Yet, in our second act, we also may have neglected our fitness, gained some weight and find our cholesterol or blood pressure too high for good health. How is your current health and fitness? Do you have a commitment to support your health and wellness? Do you need to take some action to lose weight, quit smoking, improve your diet or get more rest?

Emotional

Popular stereotypes would lead us to believe that most of us go through a mid-life crisis between 40 and 60 leading to unhappiness and depression. Yet researchers who have been studying the development process of our lives report that, far from being a time of turmoil, dissatisfaction and dread of getting old, only a small percent of participants report having a midlife crises (23% in the MacArthur Foundation Research Network Study) and in many cases it had nothing to do with aging. Based on the results of this study most people are entering their sixth or seventh decades with increased feeling of well-being, equanimity, a sense of control over many parts of their lives and feeling younger than their years. The AARP study in 2006 also reports that 85% of those who have already retired are satisfied with their lives. These studies suggest that aging is not the dreaded time of our imaginations, but rather with intention and focus we can create a joyful and satisfying Third Act. What brings you joy, pleasure and deep satisfaction? How can you continue to find those emotional rewards in the coming years?

Professional

As we mentioned in the opening paragraph, we are a generation of women who have pursued careers for most of our lives. For many, those careers have brought achievements, and the personal and financial rewards of success in our chosen fields. Such success has also meant the stressful demands of long hours and hard work to meet unfair expectations or to challenge traditional stereotypes. Many women have had two full time jobs – raising a family and a career. Many of us are ready to “slow down”, have more time for relaxation and to enjoy other interests. Yet some of us do not want to quit or financially can’t afford to. The Fortune 2005 Retirement Guide reports that 42% of the over-50 population wants to rotate between work and leisure. Others of us, a startling 56%, want to leave one career behind and launch a new and perhaps more entrepreneurial venture that we have always dreamed about. Others of us want to use our professional skills in ways that contribute and make a different to our community or to the world. Do you want or need to continue to work? Are you interested in launching something new? How much do you want to work? How do you want to contribute your skills, experience and your time?

Personal

Full time work and raising a family leaves little time for women to pursue hobbies, leisure time activities or make contributions as a volunteer. As our family obligations are reduced and we think of working only part time or even leaving our work and careers, opportunities open up. We can pursue long delayed dreams, complete neglected projects, learn to play the piano, speak Spanish, study history, or make a meaningful contributions to causes about which we are passionate. The 60 year olds in the AARP study reported that they wanted to spend time with loved ones, engage in their interests and hobbies or make time to do what they had always wanted to do. Do you have a passion to make a difference, to contribute to your community? Do you have dreams or projects you have longed to plunge into with time to pursue and accomplish? Do you have subjects or skills you want to learn?

Spiritual

The multi-tasking, over-scheduled life cruising on auto-pilot leaves little time to explore the questions of deeper meaning in our lives. We may be disenchanted with the “rewards” of climbing the corporate ladder or when time does emerge, we are often at a loss, drifting and feeling somehow empty of purpose and direction. Many women feel that some how during the second act, they set aside something important they want to retrieve. The experts suggest that the changes that matter during this time are more often spiritual and psychological. Are you asking what you are called to do and what will provide meaning and purpose in this next phase of your life? Is your life fulfilled and guided by your spiritual beliefs? Are you wondering if you will be satisfied if you quit work and leave your career?

Creating a Star Performance

Yet, now is the time to plan your transition, to draft your script for your Third Act. This requires being proactive, taking personal responsibility and being open to learning about your self. Writing your own script may be new to you and it may require mastering your tendency to be reactive, overcoming habitual thought and belief patterns that have governed your behavior or following the wishes and expectations of others. You may need to establish boundaries, find routines that support your needs and exercise more independence. Now is the time to do that before you find yourself center stage in your Third Act without a script.

Researchers studying the lives of seniors have found that those seniors whose lives are happier and healthier include attitudes and activities which bring them more satisfaction and a more positive outlook on life. They are deeply engaged with contributing to the lives of others or what Bob Buford calls socially productive aging.  Four specific areas seem to have the most impact as you draft your script:

Positive Appreciation: Experiencing the present moment and being mindful of what is new without judgment, looking back with contentment and gratitude or looking ahead with optimism and seeing its potential. To some extent, positive feelings may fluctuate around an inborn “set point.” However, psychologists say that anyone can learn to increase positive feelings, although some of us with lower “set points” may need to work harder. Mindfulness is one key to increasing positive feelings and enjoying the present. Mindfulness is actively noticing things without evaluating or categorizing them. Gratitude exercises not only lift your mood but also improve physical health and raise energy levels.

Seeking Meaning: Transcending the self and using your signature strengths to belong or serve something that is larger than yourself. Creating meaning through involvement in a cause for which you have passion and creates meaning in your life is one of the most important components of happiness. It may involve nature, art, community, spirituality or something else. Giving makes you feel good, frequent acts of kindness boosts well-being and volunteering gives you a sense of purpose because you matter to someone else.

Active Engagement: Being in “flow” occurs when our skills are balanced with sufficient challenge to keep us engaged but not overly frustrated. We are more likely to be fully engaged when we are active rather than passive and when that activity requires using skills and focus. This may be a challenge at any time for some of us, but particularly so in our third act, when the structure and goals of our second acts are no longer provided for us through our work. Rowe and Kahn in ground breaking research on aging, found one of the key components in successful aging - to be engaged with life. By deploying your highest strength and talents, you can have more intense absorption—flow—in more areas of your life.

Quality of Everyday Experience. While traditional approaches to life planning often emphasize the importance of vision and goals, it is clear that the quality of our everyday experience is an important determinant of satisfaction. The simple pleasures of leisurely reading the paper, calling a friend, having a cup of tea or taking a nap can bring daily contentment. Having strong ties to friends and family gives a big boost to happiness and savoring the sensory experiences increases the pleasure of our daily lives.

This suggests that creating the vibrant rewarding script for our Third Act, may require some intentional focus on how to bring these qualities into our lives. It is not as simple as leaving a job or enjoying a retirement party. It is a big psychological shift and it is important to be prepared for change and growth. Creating the script for a socially productive Third Act means clarifying your values, finding out who you really are at your core and repositioning yourself with this self-awareness for fulfillment. We have found that one way to find this self-reflective focus is to create a space and opportunity to explore questions both personally and in dialogue with others and to take time to think through the hopes, dreams and realities that will help shape a vital, vibrant and engaging script for the Third Act.

What does the curtain call you to do in your Third Act?

Authors

Bev Scott and Kimberly Weichel offer workshops, training, retreats and coaching in Third Act development for groups and individuals. Bev Scott is an organization and management consultant who has supported leaders, teams and individuals in developing their full potential and finding meaning in their work. Kimberly Weichel is a social pioneer, educator, and specialist in global communications and conflict resolution, assisting individuals and organizations to realize their potential.

Bev and Kim have spent their careers addressing development and change, consulting with organizations to create more meaningful workplaces. They have coached individuals to support the development of their potential. The richness of life-long learning and the significance of meaning and purpose have been foundations for them personally and in their work with others. They want to use their expertise and life experience to support others in creating their own Third Acts, as well as encourage women’s voices to be heard. They offer Third Act workshops, retreats and coaching for groups and individuals.

Christoffersen, John, “Need, Lifestyle Keep Seniors on the Job”, SFGate.com, August 14, 2007.

“Trends”, Audio Tech Business Summaries, 9-15-2005.

Goode, Erica, “New Study Finds Middle Age is Prime of Life”, New York Times, undated.

Buford, Bob, “Finishing Well: How Pathfinders Transform Success to Significance” LEADER TO LEADER, Winter 2007.

]]> http://kimweichel.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=67 http://kimweichel.org/blog/?p=58 http://kimweichel.org/blog/?p=58#comments Thu, 05 Feb 2009 20:49:11 +0000 Kim http://kimweichel.org/blog/?p=58 The first two workshops are offered through Bali Institute for Global Renewal:

1) Visionary Leadership: The Quest for Global Community

We live in a time of vital transformation. Many of us wish to contribute to positive change in our community or the larger world— to be a change agent and social entrepreneur. This workshop may be your next step, helping you match your inner vision and personal calling to your skills, values, and circumstances.

You are invited to join others from many countries in a rich, multi-cultural learning and sharing experience as we collectively explore the principles and practices of visionary leadership and social entrepreneurship at the personal and organizational levels. In this interactive, engaging, and thought provoking 5-day workshop, we will blend leadership training, community building, skill development, and authentic dialogue, all enhanced by the magnetism of Bali and the wisdom of the group.

Since pressing global challenges offer prospects for emerging forms of global and local leadership, workshop questions will focus on:

• Transformation: What will it take for each of us to harness the positive aspects of transformation and nourish the politics of hope?
• Global Community: What is being called for at this moment of worldwide change? How do we bridge elements of indigenous wisdom with the quest for global community?
• Leadership: How can we align, inspire, and equip ourselves and/or our organizations as agents of change for 21st century leadership?
• Action: How shall we prepare to move from vision into effective action, taking a stand to make a difference?

In this workshop we will:

• Investigate new dimensions of innovative partnerships and collaborative leadership
• Strengthen skills in communication, authentic dialogue, and community-building
• Learn to transform conflict, explore differences, and deepen multi-cultural relationships
• Shape visions into effective action through principles of social entrepreneurship
• Create new cross-cultural alliances and enhance global connections

Visionary Leadership will include unique personal encounters with Balinese village leaders, both in our workshop and in their own community settings.  Bali’s harmonious and grace-filled culture will inspire and enlarge our own visions of a leadership style that values community, connection, and commitment.

Workshop facilitators

Paula Green and Kimberly Weichel have decades of experience as international peacebuilders and dialogue facilitators, working in some of the world’s most challenging environments to nurture the seeds of peace and compassion. Sharing leadership in this workshop, Paula and Kim will bring their journeys as peacebuilders, their own processes of transformation, and their successful work with organizations to further nourish our quest for global community.

Who Should Attend?

This program is designed for:

1. Individuals or teams engaged in organizations and communities who want to deepen their capacity for 21st century leadership
2. Those who are eager to find their voice, make a difference, and play a role in global or community change
3. Participants who are interested in learning and linking across cultures, benefiting from indigenous wisdom, and immersing themselves in global community
4. Interested in bringing a team? NGO staff, board members, volunteers; foundation staff; people in transition; social entrepreneurs, and others

Why Bali?

The Balinese perspectives on leadership and integral living will provide a fascinating context for expanding our capacity as global citizens and leaders.  This gorgeous island is one of the most peaceful, lush places on earth, and was the recent location for the 2007-08 United Nations Climate Change Conference.  Balinese have much to offer about learning to live harmoniously with one another and our planet.

Imagine the stimulation and transformative opportunities you’ll have in exploring the emergence of a new kind of sustainable leadership that emanates from indigenous wisdom and is grounded in an exchange of inter-cultural dialogue, transformative practices, and skill-building.We are all needed as leaders in this transformation. The world calls all of us. The time is now.

Balinese Highlights Include

• Meetings with local Balinese village leaders and government officials
• Evening dialogue and reflection time in small gatherings
• Special dinner with local Balinese villagers
• Private discussion with the royal family in Ubud about indigenous leadership
• Balinese performances unseen by most tourists
• Priceless cross-cultural experiences
• Lifelong friendships with Balinese
• Optional visits to schools, orphanages and other innovative NGO programs

Workshop Leaders

Kimberly Weichel is a social pioneer, educator, and specialist in global communications, conflict resolution and cross-cultural projects, working with individuals and organizations to realize their potential. She has directed international projects over the past 25 years in east and southern Africa, Europe, Russia, United States and with the United Nations, particularly with women. Kim is president of the United Nations Association of San Francisco, co-founder of the Institute for PeaceBuilding, United Nations correspondent for Positive Spin cable-tv show, and author of several books.

Dr. Paula Green is the founder and Executive Director of Karuna Center for Peacebuilding, a world-renown organization focused on international conflict transformation, inter-communal dialogue, and reconciliation. She is also Professor of Conflict Transformation at the School for International Training, where she founded and directs CONTACT (Conflict Transformation Across Cultures), an annual Peacebuilding Institute and Graduate Certificate Program for peacemakers from around the world.  Paula has worked as a psychologist, educator and consultant in many regions of Africa, Asia, the Mid East, Europe and the U.S.  She was recently selected as a winner of the Unsung Heroes of Compassion, an award that will be given to her by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 2009. www.karunacenter.org

2) Working from the Heart: The Feminine Face of Activism

Join women from around the world for this life-changing 5-day gathering. We will come together as women who share a deep sense of “calling” to help generate the kind of world we want to leave for our children and grandchildren. The focus will be on our stories, wisdom, talents and longing to connect globally to manifest the healing needed on our planet. Stretch into your future as a global citizen, and allow this more intimate experience to open your heart and expand your capacities as a committed leader around your unique passions and deep desires to make a difference. BALI and her deep mysteries will serve as a significant component of our learning together. This culture has much to provide about learning to heal, forgive and live harmoniously with one another and our planet. Balinese rituals and arts play a role in this gathering unlike anything you have experienced. You’ll encounter the unusual way Balinese ceremony and performance converge with deepening dialogue and an action oriented program.

Here is what our program offers:

• Discover new forms of feminine leadership that arise from your inner longing to contribute in the world
• Acquire skills and confidence of authentic leadership
• Tap into and enhance your unique talents with coaching and hands-on experiences
• Engage in rich, cross-cultural dialogues that provide new clarity and vision for your own inspired activism
• Explore story-telling that transforms how you experience your past and what might show up for your future
• Expand your global network of women
• Experience ways of integrating the sacredness of everyday into your work.

This one-of-a-kind program will provide leadership training, community-building skills, personal visioning and coaching, all while being immersed in an indigenous culture that enhances deeper understanding of yourself and the larger global community. Everyone will have an opportunity to visit NGO (non-governmental) programs, village schools or other sites to experience and reflect on the needs of Balinese as a learning opportunity for your own emerging offerings to the world. There will also be plenty of time for personal rejuvenation including healthy foods, healing massages, yoga and optional cooking classes.

Who Should Attend? The program is designed for women of all ages who are:

• in leadership roles and long to connect with other women to share common experiences and learn new leadership skills
• wanting to move into leadership roles and become more active around their passion to make a difference in their community

We have designed this program specifically for women who are ready to explore more deeply their core values and to enhance their ability to make a difference in the world.

A Partial List of Highlights (see above)

Workshop Leaders

Kimberly Weichel is a social pioneer, educator, and specialist in global communications, conflict resolution and cross-cultural projects, working with individuals and organizations to realize their potential. She has directed international projects over the past 25 years in east and southern Africa, Europe, Russia, United States and with the United Nations, particularly with women. Kim is president of the United Nations Association of San Francisco, co-founder of the Institute for PeaceBuilding, UN correspondent for Positive Spin cable-TV show, and author of several books.

Marcia Jaffe is founder and president of the Bali Institute for Global Renewal. She created the concept and co-produced three global gatherings in Ubud in the last four years focused on the “Quest for Global Healing” and “Awakening Global Action” with more than 1,300 participants from 40 countries. Her ability to deeply connect with the Balinese culture and its people will provide unique opportunities to experience this profound, spiritually based island as a learning caldron for global awakening and personal transformation.

Dr. Luh Ketut Suryani, M.D., Ph.D., (invited) is a renowned Balinese healer, highly acclaimed western-trained psychiatrist and a leader in bridging indigenous Balinese knowledge and values with western ways of being. She is the author of numerous books on Balinese culture and spirituality. She embodies indigenous activism with her unstoppable commitment and work on a multitude of cultural issues that are impacting Bali. She also has her own TV show on women’s issues and offers community meditation for the Denpasar region. Other Balinese women facilitators are currently being selected and will be announced shortly.

For more information: info@baliinstitute.org • 415.331.7552 Sausalito, California USA

“This experience gently pushes you to look inside yourself, your heart and see how you can make a difference in the world—truly transformative” — 2007 Awakening Global Action participant.

Unity of Marin presents

A special evening workshop during the Season for Nonviolence

The Art and Practice of Peaceful Communication

Monday, February 23^rd

7:00pm – 9:00pm

Facilitator: Kimberly Weichel

The art and practice of good communication affects our everyday life – how we relate with others and how we are effective in our work and in our personal lives. Practicing peaceful communication helps to reduce miscommunication and misunderstanding which can often lead to conflict and breach of trust. In this interactive and lively evening workshop, practice some key communication skills that will be valuable for everyday living. Open to anyone who has ever had a misunderstanding or who needs to communicate regularly.

Kimberly Weichel is director of the Institute for Peacebuilding, a UN advisor, author and social entrepreneur, and teaches courses in communication, conflict resolution, visioning and leadership. www.kimweichel.org

600 Palm Drive, Hamilton Center, Novato

Suggested donation: $15

RSVP: 475-5000

Forgiveness: The Ultimate Tool

Facilitators: Eileen Barker and Kimberly Weichel

Forgiveness Alliance Offerings

Forgiveness is the ultimate transformative tool.  It is the doorway to creating inner and outer peace.  Forgiveness enables us to release whatever may prevent us from experiencing love moment to moment. This very interactive training series will provide powerful, practical tools and focus on how to integrate forgiveness as a daily practice into our lives.  Participants will receive valuable resource materials for daily practice.

Offered in various forms – Two or Three Evening Classes; One or Two Day Workshops; Group/Organization Facilitators

Register Online at www.forgivenessalliance.org

Facilitators:
Eileen Barker is a well-known Bay Area mediator and trainer. She mediates disputes involving family businesses, partnerships, and divorce and teaches classes on mediation and forgiveness at UC Berkeley School of Law, Sonoma State University and elsewhere. EBarker7@aol.com

Kimberly Weichel is Director of the Institute for Peacebuilding, and teaches, trains and consults in communication, conflict transformation, leadership and forgiveness. She consults with the United Nations, and has worked in peacebuilding in many countries. She is an educator and author. www.kimweichel.org. kim@kimweichel.org.

]]> http://kimweichel.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=58 http://kimweichel.org/blog/?p=53 http://kimweichel.org/blog/?p=53#comments Thu, 05 Feb 2009 20:21:43 +0000 Kim http://kimweichel.org/blog/?p=53

1. Leading Conversations Radio: The Frontline of Peace: Feminine Leadership - A radio interview with Kim Weichel, by Cheryl Esposito

Click Here for audio link

2. Peace Building and Leadership: An interview with Kimberly Weichel, by Rose Diamond, co-director of A Whole New World

Rose: Hello Kim! I’m excited to be interviewing you today. I know you’ve been working for peace for many years and in many different contexts, and you have a great deal of experience and wisdom to share with us. What are you working on now?

Kim: I’ve just been creating a leadership curriculum for middle schools in a pilot region in Senegal, in collaboration with a Senegalese consultant. It is in an area where there’s been conflict for some decades, which is probably why it’s been selected. It’s very exciting since there’s a dearth of leadership training in Africa. If this curriculum is successful, it will expand to other middle schools in Senegal and hopefully other regions in Africa.

Rose: It sounds very fulfilling as well as challenging.

Kim: It is. It’s under the auspices of an organization called Leadership Africa and funded by the US Agency for International Development, the foreign aid arm of our government. Leadership Africa’s mission is to expand leadership capabilities in the continent of Africa. I think it’s very important to provide some positive role models of leadership in Africa.

Rose: So this is for bringing peace building skills into schools in Senegal?

Kim: Yes, while it’s called leadership training, it includes core peace building skills, such as how we communicate effectively; key listening skills, how we understand and value differences, how to work with others, and how we reduce conflict. These are core skills for everyone to understand, particularly those in a conflict area. It’s a fifteen week course and I’ve drawn on some of my own material but also utilized some existing curriculum from my son’s former middle school, to see what is appropriate in that age range. Middle school is the ideal time to start these courses.

Rose: I would say the skill of dealing with differences is central to a peace building curriculum, wouldn’t you?

Kim: Absolutely. It’s important to understand that we all see things differently, so we need to know how to really listen, so we really hear what the other person has to say. Part of it is listening skills; part of it is to develop understanding of differences and learn how to work with them. I had to redefine leadership because leadership is not just the old model of the person in charge; rather it’s about everyone exercising their own initiative and responsibility in their own way. We can each be a leader when we do so. And it was interesting in an African context to ensure that it’s inclusive of their cultural norms.

Rose: Middle school is what age?

Kim: In the U.S. it’s sixth, seventh and eighth grade, approximately ten to thirteen years old.

Rose: Do you think that’s the age when children are most receptive to these initiatives?

Kim: I think so. Certainly some skills could be offered before then, but by the age of middle school they’re developing cognitive abilities and have an aptitude for learning these kinds of principles and concepts - like dealing with the other, going beyond self, how to really listen. These skills also help develop self confidence, so important at this age. Some of these skills could be offered earlier but I’m not sure how well they’d be understood. I also feel it’s important that it begin in middle school because once they hit those teenage years in high school, it’s harder to reach students with skills such as listening, team building, etc.

Rose: They’re becoming real social beings at that age as well. I think for all of us, in all the work I do as well, listening is a central skill, which most of us, even as adults haven’t developed very well.

Kim: That’s right, many of this think we listen, yet sometimes we listen for what we want to hear, making judgments and assumptions, ready to respond quickly with our view without really understanding what the person is saying. There is so much miscommunication and it’s the basis of conflict. Effective communication goes beyond listening, but listening is certainly a first phase. Then we look at how we can communicate in a way so that both people feel heard and understood. Understanding differences and sensitivities is especially important in a conflict area such as this region in Senegal.

Rose: I’m very interested to hear about your current project, but maybe we could go back a little and put this in the wider context of your work?

Kim: Of course. But first tell me a little bit about what you’re doing and how it ties in with peace building.

Rose: I’m launching a new project called A Whole New World. Our purpose is to network with people locally, nationally and globally to provide mutual support for making a transition to a more peaceful, sustainable world. Part of what I’m doing as a lifelong educator is offering a monthly package, we’re calling it New Moon Magic, because it’s going to be coming out every new moon, with the idea of planting seeds at the New Moon. I have a year’s themes on different aspects of social change and consciousness raising and this first one is on Being Peace in Action, a subject and practice I’ve been actively involved in for a while.

What we’re aiming to do is to provide food for thought and inspiration, spreading the word about projects that are happening locally, nationally and globally, with the hope readers will be encouraged and be more confident to get more actively involved themselves, both in terms of changing from the inside and participating with others in community building. It’s about inspiration, skills, mutual support, food for thought, in a nutshell.

Kim: Excellent! Especially at this time when there is little hope in the economic sphere, offering seeds of hope and new ways of thinking is really important.

Rose: Absolutely, I think this is a very challenging time for most people right now but at the same time I see it as a very fertile opportunity for change to happen, so that’s why it’s a good time to plant some of these seeds. I think many people would like to be more active in creating a better world but they don’t know how. I’m learning myself and passing on what I learn as I go.

Kim: That’s great. When things are going well we can continue life as usual but when things shift as dramatically as they are and probably will continue to do, we can no longer rely on more of the same - it requires us to rethink what we’re doing and what’s important to us. When people lose their jobs they have no choice but to rethink what they’re doing and I think that’s actually a healthy thing. Every year I re-evaluate what I’m doing and I reduce commitments that drain energy. Then I have space to take on what is new and more important at this time. It’s a matter of trying to be totally present with what’s important and I think this particular time is an opportunity to do that.

Rose: I agree, I think there’s really a shift in identity for many people as well. As things get more challenging we have to shed our old ideas of who we are and as you say, be willing to experiment with new ways of being, doing and being together. This involves new skills for all of us and a lot of those are in the personal area of communication.

Kim: Also re-evaluating what’s important; in this society we often think what’s most important is the high paying job, since we have a mortgage, health care, car payments, etc and we get caught up in a vicious circle. I know many people who dislike their jobs yet feel stuck to maintain their expensive life style. As life starts to unravel we have to ask ourselves how much is enough, what’s truly important, how can I downsize in order to accommodate the new economy? Just look at what’s really important. As tough as the times are, it gives us this opportunity to reframe and re-evaluate.

Rose: I was looking at your website again before this call and there’s so much we could talk about. You’ve been involved in peace work for thirty years could you give me a brief summary of how you first got involved?

Kim: That’s a big question! I think ever since I was a young girl I’ve had a fascination with what is out there beyond my immediate environment. I studied other cultures, I poured over maps, I used to dress up for Halloween in costumes from different countries when I was a young girl; there was something calling me about other countries and other cultures. I befriended the exchange students at my high school and invited them over for dinner and I knew I wanted to become one, knew I wanted to be involved. I wrote off to different programs, such as Vista, at fifteen or sixteen and was told I was too young. I had this deep yearning at an early age. I became an exchange student to Germany and had a fabulous year – I’m still close with my German family after 38 years!

But I think what really prompted the work into peace building was when we lived in South Africa. My husband and I met and married in Sydney, Australia and then we moved to South Africa - I was just twenty-two when we got there. This was in 1974 under apartheid and it was extraordinarily difficult and extraordinarily awful for the majority of the population. As a white American I just couldn’t possibly consider living there unless I did everything I could to work for change under apartheid. So I immediately got involved. I finished my under-graduate degree and then completed my masters at the University of Cape Town and simultaneously directed a program that was part of the Institute of Race Relations. We worked to integrate facilities at the workplaces, provided cross cultural training so whites and blacks could work together, spoke out against government policy, protected the people living in the large squatter communities near Cape Town, and sent realistic information out to the world via consulates so the world could put pressure on the South African government.

The intensity, immediacy and importance of this work really launched me into peace building. I became a change agent within the country and I think change happened both from those of us within the system, putting pressure on the government in ways only insiders could, as well as from outside the country. Both are needed to affect change. I got very involved in a large squatter community called “Crossroads” that the government threatened to bulldoze. It was home to 20,000 African people in living in meager overcrowded conditions, yet they didn’t want to be sent back to the rural areas where they had no work. So a committed group of us, including a lawyer, journalists and community leaders, worked diligently together to stave off demolition, and indeed it was never bulldozed. In fact it still exists. My family and I visited South Africa a year ago and we visited Crossroads, and it’s huge - unfortunately people still live in shanty towns despite the fact apartheid’s long gone. It was upsetting to see the government hadn’t provided more homes for its people.

Rose: So you went straight into an extremely challenging situation.

Kim: I did. I got involved because of how strongly I felt about apartheid and because I could see how it affected so many people. We went to South Africa with the idea of staying a year, but ended up staying for five years because of the commitment to this work. It was a very powerful time, having a clear purpose, real dedication, and a team of caring experts with whom we collaborated to make a difference. I had a deep yearning to do what I could to affect change and bring justice. This was a seminal experience and has stayed with me as I have continued to do peace building work in other parts of the world.

Rose: As I listen to you describing how that longing started in you at an early age, it seems to me that was the work you came here to do, your soul work. Is that how it feels to you?

Kim: Yes. I wouldn’t have called it that then because it was something I just did: you’re there, you don’t analyze, you just get involved. It was something that needed to be done and I cared deeply and wanted to be involved with my whole being. It was instructive for all the work I’ve done subsequently. I began at the grass roots level which is a great place to begin. You are connected with people and their needs. I have kept with me that spirit, and the spirit of the people there, and their resilience despite the tough living conditions. And then to see the transformation in that country and the process of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and what that country went through, it’s such a model. I use it as an example in a lot of the teaching I do on forgiveness and peace building.

Rose: What would you say were the main skills you were developing through that work?

Kim: Because I was quite young I was naïve but very open to learning. I was learning skills of collaboration and how you work in a team, how you set goals, how you affect change. In this case we’re talking about saving a home for 20,000 people and fighting an oppressive government. In my case the question was how do I do this and yet not be banned and sent out of South Africa? What is that line? How much can I speak up, how much can I write, research and do without being banned? I was careful yet also needed to be forthright. I was learning a lot of grassroots organizing skills, cross cultural skills, working with an African population that had very different cultural norms than we did. I was learning so much in a really short time. And then shortly after I graduated I was asked to become director of the program for the Institute for Race Relations. So I had to learn management skills quickly. I was not trained per se but because the mission was so strong, I’d just learn on the job and I was directing projects, working with employers, with consulates, with journalists and learning to speak confidently because it was a subject matter I was passionate about. Then US sanctions to South Africa became a political hot potato in the US Congress, and a number of Congressional Representatives, journalists and others came down to see for themselves. Because I knew the areas I ended up briefing them and taking them around, so I met a lot of people from Washington who encouraged me to go to DC and work from the policy side. I decided that at some point I would do that, and I did. The fact I had begun working in the grassroots community was very helpful.

Rose: I imagine having such a big and inspiring goal, something really vital and important to people’s lives, would help in dropping the personality limitations which are so often a barrier to peace. On the other hand I know many social activists have a tendency to lose themselves. Part of maintaining inner peace is getting that balance between keeping the personality out of the way yet not running oneself ragged in one’s devotion to the cause.

Kim: That’s always the balance isn’t it, especially with something of this magnitude? You’re living it every day; it’s not like a nine to five job - there was no leaving it behind. There was no time for personality conflicts, and the mission was so important that we each had to rise to our highest good. It’s about taking action on what you can do; we knew we couldn’t change the government overnight, yet we had to keep going. It really showed me the power of working together; you need people with the right skill sets, who have clout, and you need a plan of action so that you’re effective. One of the team members was a South African journalist, and we realized the whole Crossroads story needed to be told, so we co-authored a book called, Inside Crossroads, a documentary book published by McGraw Hill, about this community and how it survived.

Rose: It sounds very exciting as well as challenging and possibly even dangerous?

Kim: Yes, all of those mixed together, but at the time we were young and it didn’t occur to me that I shouldn’t be doing what I was doing. Our families were contacting us from America because there were riots in South Africa in different cities, but I never felt afraid.

Rose: It was a passion.

Kim: Yes.

Rose: I’d like to leap forward to the present now because I want to ask you about the Great Law of Peace. I’m particularly interested in what’s happening here in the US at the moment; how people in this country can create a more peaceful society from the grassroots, and how that connects with global peace.

Kim: I’ll first talk a little bit about the Great Law of Peace. The Great Law was the Iroquois Confederacy Constitution for the six Iroquois nations – spanning some of the upper northeast U.S. and southern Canada. The Great Law of Peace was crafted about 600 years ago by a Native American “prophet” called the Peacemaker and has been passed down through oral tradition. The Great Law of Peace greatly influenced our US Constitution as well as being a model for the United Nations, as the only union that had existed collaboratively for many years. The Peacemaker brought peace to the warring Iroquois Confederacy teaching core principles of righteousness and justice, and they learned to live in peace, using the Great Law of Peace as their constitution and guiding principles. One of the many reasons it was so effective was the role of Clan Mothers. The Clan Mothers were elders in their communities, and they were the ones who would select a chief who carried out the policies but they could also depose the chief if he wasn’t doing it properly. And that’s the part that got lost in our society. We travelled with a Native American chief, Chief Jake Thomas, for ten days to learn about the Great Law firsthand, and he kept saying, “The Women have to get strong again. The Women have to get strong again.” He felt, and we agreed, that a main reason for the decline of Native society was that women were disempowered, and taken out of their roles as Clan Mothers through which they provided a check on the power of chiefs to avoid abuse of power. Unfortunately this power was not included in our Constitution.

I believe this is also a main reason for the challenges in our own society. Our society is so focused on competition which is the win/lose mode, and has evolved over generations into a strong patriarchal society characterized by masculine values. And we have become deeply individualistic, with the common phrase of “me first” and “I’m number one”, which are counterproductive to the essential ingredient of democracy, which is collaboration and to think beyond self for what’s good for the whole.

What’s needed for a healthy society is to re-establish the role of the Clan Mothers – to value the feminine principles and qualities and have them in equal partnership with the masculine. They have been undervalued for too long, causing us to get way off track. We need to value the principles of partnership, collaboration, caring for others, sharing power rather than hording it, etc. Feminine qualities are not just in women, but rather are qualities that need to be nurtured and valued in government, business and society at large. This means valuing teachers, valuing education, valuing the process of how we work together. The reason I do trainings in feminine wisdom and leadership is because it’s important those principles are nurtured. The Great Law taught us that when we work together, we all win.

Another feminine value is long term thinking. Native Americans plan for seven generations to come. The way our society is structured with quarterly profits doesn’t give us the opportunity to plan ahead. These core principles that come from the Great Law are so important yet are not as valued in our society, resulting in huge problems we see today. I do think Barack Obama embodies the Feminine and is a remarkable man, and while he can’t do everything, he is the right person at this time for our society and our world.

Rose: I agree with you, and at the same time I think we can’t just leave it to the politicians. Change has to come through changing consciousness, and it has to come through each one of us. You call your work peace building rather than peacemaking?

Kim: Unfortunately the word peace has become so politicized and misunderstood, so I often use the word: peacebuilding – which means literally building the peace.

Rose: What advice would you give to someone who wants to start to contribute to a more peaceful society or a more peaceful life?

Kim: We always start with ourselves and practice embodying peace in our daily life. We all know from the work of social intelligence and other fields that we affect other people through our own emotions and the way we live our lives. If we model being peaceful and working collaboratively, if we model partnership, if we model the very principles that we’ve been describing, that’s a big step forward. If each person could do this we’d have a very different environment. At the same time I think we each have our own piece of the peace. So we need to know what it is that interests us. We all have an important part to play, we can’t do it all, so we have to select the important issues that call us, and once we know what those are we get involved with others. We don’t have to start an organization by ourselves. In fact the principle of collaboration is: we work with others, so we can find other organizations doing the kind of work that interests us. If we can’t find such an organization in our area, we can get together with a group of people and form one. Bringing our values into action is really important. It’s one thing to have our values and say what we think should be done; it’s another to step into action. To me an important principle of service is giving back and being involved in a way that is positive. I want to take a stand for something. I am for peace, rather than against war. Being for, rather than against, is a very different and much more empowering stance.

Rose: Absolutely, that’s wonderful. So you’re saying: follow your passion, follow your interest, join with others, and take positive action for something you really believe in and want to create.

Kim: Yes, we can even write our own personal statements: what is it we’re standing for?

Rose: Most of us have been so busy surviving in the world as it exists, we don’t even stop for a moment to envision how the world can be better. Visioning is an important part of building a whole new world for me.

Kim: Yes a clear vision is the place to start, followed by effective action. We’re all good at complaining about what we don’t like, yet the harder part is to stay with what it is we want – what we’re standing for. What do we do about it? What is it we’re actually proposing? It’s much more powerful and effective when we look at what we’d like to see and what we can do as opposed to what we can’t do.

Rose: Thank you Kim for what you’ve shared.

Kim: And thank you for following your passion and taking this initiative.

This interview was conducted by Rose Diamond, co-director of A Whole New World, a local, national, global transformational learning community supporting a successful transition from the world as we have known it, to a new world based on the values of peace, interconnectedness and respect for all life. The interview and the following article first appeared in the first edition of New Moon Magic: Being Peace in Action, in January 2009. To learn more go to: http://livingyourpassion.info/nmm/ and www.TheGrowingEdge.net

 The Great Law of Peace

The following is an extract from: The Great Law of Peace
New World Roots of American Democracy , by David Yarrow, http://www.kahonwes.com/iroquois/document1.html

The Confederacy arose centuries ago among separate, warring communities as a way to create harmony, unity and respect among human beings. Implicit in Iroquois political philosophy is commitment to the highest principles of human liberty. Iroquois Law’s recognition of individual liberty and justice surpasses any European parallel. Faithkeeper, Oren Lyons, an Onondaga, states The Great Law of Peace includes “freedom of speech, freedom of religion, [and] the right of women to participate in government. Separation of power in government and checks and balances within government are traceable to our Iroquois constitution — ideas learned by colonists.”

The central idea underlying Iroquois political philosophy is that peace is the will of the Creator, and the ultimate spiritual goal and natural order among humans. The principles of Iroquois government embodied in The Great Law of Peace were transmitted by a historical figure called the Peacemaker. His teachings emphasize the power of Reason to assure Righteousness, Justice and Health among humans. Peace came to the Iroquois, not through war and conquest, but through the exercise of Reason guided by the spiritual mind. The Iroquois League is based not on force of arms or rule of law, but spiritual concepts of natural law applied to human society.

At the planting of a Tree of Peace in Philadelphia in 1986, Mohawk Chief Jake Swamp explained, “In the beginning, when our Creator made humans, everything needed to survive was provided. Our Creator asked only one thing: Never forget to appreciate the gifts of Mother Earth. Our people were instructed how to be grateful and how to survive.

“But during a dark age in our history 1000 years ago, humans no longer listened to the original instructions. Our Creator became sad, because there was so much crime, dishonesty, injustice and war.

“So Creator sent a Peacemaker with a message to be righteous and just, and make a good future for our children seven generations to come. He called all warring people together and told them as long as there was killing there would be no peace of mind. There must be a concerted effort by humans for peace to prevail. Through logic, reasoning and spiritual means, he inspired the warriors to bury their weapons and planted atop a sacred Tree of Peace.”

The White Roots of Peace

The Peacemaker legend is a central tale of Iroquois history, constituting an Iroquois Bible, Declaration of Independence and Constitution. This inspiring story describes a people mired in violent bloody feuds who, guided by a spiritual teacher, set aside war to adopt a Path of Peace. It’s a mythic tale of struggle between good and evil, order and chaos, and the triumph of Reason. It’s a morality play depicting the transformation of humans rising above suffering and tragedy to establish a higher order of human relations. It’s also a practical guide to establishing unity and balance amongst diverse human communities. It’s a successful model of how to distribute power in a democratic society to assure individual liberty.

To portray the spirit of democracy, the Peacemaker gave The Tree of Peace as a symbol of the Great Law of Peace. This is a great white pine tree whose branches spread out to shelter all nations who commit themselves to Peace. Beneath the tree the Five Nations buried their weapons of war; atop the tree is the Eagle-that-sees-far; and four long roots stretch out in the four sacred directions — the “white roots of peace.”

The Peacemaker proclaimed, “If any man or nation shows a desire to obey the Law of the Great Peace, they may trace the roots to their source, and be welcomed to take shelter beneath the Tree.”

Upon hearing the Peacemaker legend, Dr. Robert Muller, former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, remarked, “This profound action stands as perhaps the oldest effort for disarmament in world history.”

Several versions of the legend have been transcribed from oral traditions. The most complete and authentic is The White Roots of Peace by Dr. Paul Wallace, respected ethnohistorian. In his words, “The Iroquois excelled in the arts of statesmanship and diplomacy. After the white man came, during a century of intercolonial strife, [the Iroquois] loyally protected the infant English colonies, showed them the way to union, and helped prepare American people for nationhood.”

Iroquois and the U.S. Constitution

By the time the Declaration of Independence was signed, the Iroquois had practiced their own egalitarian government for hundreds of years. The Iroquois reputation for diplomacy and eloquence reveals they had securely evolved a sophisticated political system founded on reason, not on mere power. Accounts of the “noble savage” living in “natural freedom” had inspired European theorists John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau to expound ideas that had ignited the American Revolution and helped shape the new direction of government.

But the Founding Fathers found their best working model for their new government, not in the writings of Europeans, but through their direct contact with the Iroquois League; for the Great Law of Peace provided both model and incentive to transform thirteen separate colonies into the United States.

The Great Law of Peace laid out a government “of the people, by the people and for the people”.

‘Positive Spin’ TV segments with Kim Weichel, UN and Foreign Affairs Correspondent -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5sS0MyMJug

“Positive Spin” is a news and public affairs television program that promotes positive, innovative and solution oriented news from around the world. Segments of the show focus upon such topics as:

• Solutions to local, national, and international problems;
• Programs and projects that build sustainable communities;
• Youth and children’s perspectives on creating a better world;
• Innovators in the performing and visual arts;
• Positive uses of new communications technology.

“Positive Spin” has been airing for the past 10 years. The program airs nationally on Free Speech TV on the DISH Satellite Network (up to ten times each month.) The DISH Satellite Network has 30 million homes as subscribers. In addition, Free Speech TV is carried on 183 cable access stations throughout the United States. It has won several national awards.

The show’s format features Bill McCarthy, as the Host, introducing segments on national and local issues. The program also features UN and Foreign Affairs Correspondent Kimberly Weichel, introducing segments on the United Nations and international issues. The show’s Youth Correspondent, Tracey Quesada highlights issues of concern to youth and children.

The program is a media project of Unity Foundation, a non-profit organization with a 33-year history of promoting world peace, cooperation and unity through the production of special educational and cultural events, media campaigns, television programming and local community events.

http://www.positive-spin.tv/index.html