And so we begin…
Prairie Horizons Farm, Minnesota
For those of you who are new or just want a little reminder of how Project Peace came to be, I thought it might be nice to take a very quick trip down memory lane.
Project Peace was an idea that surfaced during a coffee date in the fall of 2015 with a dear friend… we were chatting, or most likely I was chatting and she was listening, when I stated outloud, “what if I were to create a knitting pattern that was about peace and people all over the world were knnitting it at the same time, that would be my version of world peace.” We chuckled at the silly idea.
But that little idea persisted... a whisper of an idea until it was a full on roar.
So, I wrote a pattern and published it on Ravelry just days after the US Presidential election… I’d hoped that 100 people would take up the offer to join me for 21 days in that month of December 2016. They say timing is everything and it was a very unsettling time for many people … over 20,000 people downloaded that pattern with 1000s joining from around the world on the blog for the 21 days.
Was it world peace? Now I suppose that depends on your definition… and that becomes a very important part of this conversation.
And then we just kept going… for 5 years, gathering each December in this little corner of the internet, knitting and sharing ideas of peace.
The enthusiasm and receptivity for talking about peace, knitting for peace, finding creative ways to name and create peace in our days has been incredible. We really do need to have more of these conversations.
I can also add that the resistance to these conversations is real. I’ve encountered push-back in multiple places out in the “world,” the specifics not needed… yet my take-aways have strengthened my resolve to continue to talk about peace in creative and innovative ways.
Here we are on this first morning of December in 2023 and there’s a lot to process if you think about all that has happened around the globe since that first morning of December 2016. Conflict, violence, oppression, wars, genocide, hunger, famine, pandemic, illness, the list goes on and some of it keeps repeating. It’s horrific, daunting, and can be overwhelming if one is inclined to want to put an end to this way of being.
“Ours is not the task of fixing the world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach...”
We must stretch ourselves to mend what is within our reach. What is within your reach? Substituting “create peace” for the word “mend” is thought-provoking. We must create peace for the part of the world that is within our reach.
What does peace mean?
To you?
What does it look like to put peace in action?
What does it mean to move this simple 5 letter word from a feeling to
actionable?
Take a moment.
Close your eyes.
What does peace look like?
What does peace sound like?
What does peace feel like?
In the past year, I learned to be intentional with defining peace. I had to. You see, this simple little word means so many different things to people. And if you want to have an effective conversation about peace … you better be clear about what peace means. Otherwise, people will use their definition and I’ve found you might not be on the same page.
To me, peace is relationships with
self
others
and the Earth.
This is my condensed definition from the Earth Charter.
Peace nugget #1
Today, I leave you with two suggestions.
Make space in your day to be intentional about pausing. You pick the amount of time… and maybe you want to start small and increase over the next 21 days. Time to allow stillness to be part of your day…. maybe it’s time seated in a chair, feet firmly planted on the ground with your eyes closed. Or maybe it’s wrapping your hands around your cup of tea or coffee, looking outside, and watching the trees, birds, or ocean depending on your landscape. This is your time to go slow.
Grab a piece of paper (or a notebook/journal), set a timer and write for 5 minutes without stopping to the following prompt:
What is peace in action?
Other things:
Leave a comment about what peace means to you… in a way that is actionable. For example, using my definition that focuses on relationships, I can hone in relationships that need mending, nurturing, enrichment… whether it’s with myself, others, or the Earth.
As a reminder, leave a comment every day and I’ll send you a little something at the end of Project Peace. Plus, I’ll do a random drawing for some yarn to use in a shawl.
peace with each stitch and step
Christina xx