Thoughts on Procrastination....

Life is funny, it took posting new poems on the site for me to finally write....
This blogging situation can be confusing. There is this blog and my Wordpress blog none of which am I keeping up with......I think of things to write about. Then I remember I am signed up to at least three (that I remember) writing sites. The other is an academic site where I have yet to submit an article.
Then there are the other writing projects. Perhaps if I could ever get my children's book formatted correctly, I could move on to the easy writing projects.
Then the video project could get completed.
And do I need more than one blog page?
Is one better than the other?
Am I thinking too much about this?

Why did I just update the latest Peace Poetry Project in New Orleans, when the materials from the Oakland project have not yet been organized from April? Not to mention the Metaphors on Peace video from Atlanta.....
The materials from New Orleans were available to post in pieces. So I guess I took the easy route....

Have to get organized.....

On Opportunity

     Bamboozled is a word that draws me. Most likely this is due to noticing how easily we fall prey to the experience over & over & over...like an always charged battery. People, we all live here on Earth. Focusing on or differences as deterrents as opposed to assets is like believing any sort of stillness is possible on a spinning planet. Not to mention all the movement going on in our bodies. Now, when we decide to take a closer look at the many beliefs that support separation, we might start to recognize how interesting they are. Like religious non-judgment that is so opinionated, or how change is quietly accepted as being difficult. We are the optimal example of change. Blood flows, food digests, tiny beings live and die on us constantly and on and on...
     Besides that; there is an opportunity waiting for us, I've seen it in a vision. All we have to do is listen to Rodney King...we just have to get along. When we focus on the magic of life, it is not so difficult. All the war, bombing and other craziness and we are still here. Isn't that a miracle? There is major war occurring right now, bombs dropping everyday somewhere...and the planet keeps sustaining us?
     We have a choice, our perspective determines our experience. Technology is supposed to be our tool. A method for acceleration, remember the Jetson's cartoon? We could be there, for many things desire gets the ball rolling. This is one of them. Do not more of us on the planet want peace than not. The more peace we have the more partying there will be. Yes partying is a peaceful experience when not falling for the bamboozled game.
     At the end of the day opportunity is key. Recognizing your existing inner-peace let's you always come back to your balance; no matter how far away you may stray. Awareness allows a knowing of there being more to you than your body. Accepting this from knowing as opposed to learning makes it an unshakable gift. One that is always available, whether used or not. Come on........

Peace is Possible

Peace can be, in fact it already is here...within...waiting to be acknowledged. Tangents provide paths away from within.
There are tensions in the air as more and more situations bring emotions toward the negative side for many. Do we have to follow that flow? Is there an alternative option waiting to be considered? Perhaps we can begin looking from a larger viewpoint. Instead of a 5 x 7 we can look at a 16 x 24 point of view. What would we see then? For one we see obviously unfairness exists. On the other hand we would see it is not as widespread as it is portrayed to be. Closer scrutiny would reveal part of what is causing tensions is the opportunity for those who tend to deny awareness of the obvious unfairness to discontinue to do so.
A step to defuse situations is acknowledgement, open acknowledgement. To have those unaffected admit there is an issue is to tear down a dividing curtain. The motion allows embracing those who are on a sort of blacklist to not only attend the party, but to also actually be sincerely invited. The difference being that groups in the past participating with a light invite, are usually accepted in a manner similar to men waiting for the women to leave so the real partying and conversations can begin.
For change to occur different steps must be taken allowing everyone to walk the new walk or attempt to do so. There is one planet we are living on, it spins in space to sustain us, to allow us to stand on it and have thoughts of the existence of stillness as a reality. There is no need for any one group to feel the need to always lead. Be it this planet or another it is still a situation of living on a larger entity which allows our existence.  If we were to begin addressing the unfairness situation from a planetary view we might see things differently. Once accepted we can then increase our view and see from an even bigger perspective.

We are excited to share that the Peace Poetry Project will run simultaneously this summer in Atlanta, GA and Dallas TX! In Atlanta the location will be at Tassili's Raw Reality at 1059 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd, (which is not far from the belt line). The dates are July 10 -12 and July 17-19, facilitated by Ifini Sheppard and Kenneth Zakee.  A live performance will occur on the 19th. This project is free for participants. Artists between the ages of 16 and 19 in Atlanta are welcome to sign up on the "contact us" page of our website.We need to raise a minimum of $750 to pay for rental, facilitation, and materials. 

In Dallas, the Peace Poetry Proect will be facilitated by me as an artist in residence with Big Thought at Keist Elementary. This location runs the entire month of July and participants are already accounted for.  

The Creators Gift 137 was founded as an opportunity to share peace principles: “Peace Is Real” and “Peace Resides Within Us at All Times”. The Peace Ambassador Movement (PAM) will serve as an example of results that can be gained from experiencing The CG137's other services (Peace Poetry Project, Colored Lives, Focus: Peace Meditation). The PAM will be a virtual experience with aspects of the program occurring in various physical locations.   

I facilitated the first Peace Poetry Project, (PPP)  in the mountains of Northern California at Camp Winnarainbow. Since then I facilitated the PPP at: Ascend Elementary, CA; the Clinton Library, Dreamland Academy, (both located in) Little Rock, AR, and  Hooper Alexander in Atlanta. Youth are receptive to the concept of peace principles. The Peace Poetry Project allows one to express their thoughts on peace to others without restriction or judgement... 

We have so much access to so much information, with so many opportunities to sign up to so many things....running from the world could be easily attained...if that were the choice. Many of us are in the constant juggle of the physical and virtual world, working out time schedules. Took a step back recently and really took a look at what sites I signed up with. That was when I realized I couldn't tell. I often have a tendency- if an invite enters my world when I am busy-  of signing up to anything that seems interesting. That is all well and good, it is just that, apparently, I did that A LOT! So now if not for the occasional, (we have not heard from you in a while" or "Your account is about to expire" and similar reminders) I have visions of being lost in cyber world with accounts calling, running after me waiting their turn to be updated.

The trick is deciding how many accounts should be assessable on the phone. Having gone through a few models from updates, drops, and lack of resuscitation, along with trying different companies just because I can...the ease of social media usage has goes up and down. Each phone has it own usage style. Then there are all the passwords, some apps do not let you use previously used passwords twice....why not? Somedays I dedicate time to having passwords in queue, waiting their turn of usage.

So here is what prompted this writing. I have two Linkedin accounts. This was not planned. The first one began when Linkedin was starting to become popular. The second one was about a year later when an invite arrived in one of my other email accounts during "busy time". One day I could not ignore the fact that something odd was going on ith Linkedin.  I kept getting a reminder that I hadn't responded to someone. Kept checking, and did not see anything. Then the 'aha' moment came. I activated two separate accounts and did not realize it.

It is really funny to see a me seeing myself in the "people you may know" area. I wrote to Linkedin asking if the two accounts could be combined. Some standard response came. I guess I will have to work it out on my own.....