This note is meant to be both a few thoughts about the Zimbabwe solidarity fast I engaged in on Sunday, February 1st; and meant to be done quickly. So in no particular order:
Americans are metaphorically bathing in food. Food is just ubiquitous here.
The hunger problem in the US is not so much not having food as it is not having access to quality food.
Confession: I ate a piece of chocolate I found in my coat pocket without even thinking about it... It was 30 minutes before I even realized what I'd done. How ubiquitous and bathed in food is that?
A dawn to dusk fast from food was a relatively (see confession above) low bar for me. I should do it more often, if only for the spiritual gifts.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Nuts and Bolts
So what are the rules/boundaries for this journey - work? What are my intentions? What are my tools and supports?
Rules and Boundaries
Rule #1 - This is a journey over a calendar year 01 FEB 2008 until 31 JAN 2010.
Rule #2 - I can count all the miles I walk, and they do not have to be consecutive.
Rule #3 - I may also ride a bike for longer distances - 10+ miles and such.
Rule #4 - Joshua and Samuel will be my companions
Rule #5 - I'll make weekly posts tracking my progress.
I'm taking a year to do this to set the bar low, but still offer a challenge - 1000 miles in a year is only 25 miles a week for 40 weeks, and that's just over 3.5 miles a day. And that's with 12 weeks to spare. Additionally this keeps me to a relatively short time frame for evaluating what I've done and how to move forward. If the weather is uncooperative - I can walk indoors. And if I have to, I can add up a bunch of short distances walked in the same day. I'm including cycling in the hope that I can move some of my driving to riding.
Intentions
This is a prayer / meditation discipline. Others are welcome to join me! You can walk with me, or where you are; you can pray or meditate in the spirit of finding peace in our world where ever you find yourself, or drop by sometime - just give me a call or send a note. I encourage everyone to contribute to the movement for peace, in what ever way they are able. I should point out that I have a very broad definition of the peace movement, so anything that makes the world more peaceful - find a way to connect.
I mention all these possible connections because I've found that prayer is all about connection and relationship - so I want to share this experience with anyone that resonates with what I'm doing, making this a process of connection, and relationship. Hopefully co-creating, building, and reinforcing relationships that will support whatever this process yields.
Tools and Supports
I'm walking in an older pair of Saucony running sneakers that I inherited from Isaac when he outgrew them to start. I'm assuming that I'll wear these out somewhere around mile 200, and then I'll need something new. I'll be looking for a pair of New Balance 955 women's walking shoes - with the ankle support. I've chosen this particular shoe because it is likely made in the USA
I'm not rushing to the store for one of these; but once spring comes around, I'll be cycling, and need to carry Sam and Joshua safely. I've chosen a Chariot bike trailer. I've heard excellent things about this, and am looking forward to trying one. Not made is the USA; but in Canada by a family owned business. I'll be keeping my old Schwinn suburban, just getting it tuned up.
Lastly, I'm including Joshua and Samuel as teachers and guides - I've found that my children give me insights I simply cannot find on my own - I honestly don't take the time, or pay enough attention to what's happening around me without their intervention, and the structure they demand.
Thanks for reading! Questions welcomed and answered here. Peace and all good to you and yours.
Rules and Boundaries
Rule #1 - This is a journey over a calendar year 01 FEB 2008 until 31 JAN 2010.
Rule #2 - I can count all the miles I walk, and they do not have to be consecutive.
Rule #3 - I may also ride a bike for longer distances - 10+ miles and such.
Rule #4 - Joshua and Samuel will be my companions
Rule #5 - I'll make weekly posts tracking my progress.
I'm taking a year to do this to set the bar low, but still offer a challenge - 1000 miles in a year is only 25 miles a week for 40 weeks, and that's just over 3.5 miles a day. And that's with 12 weeks to spare. Additionally this keeps me to a relatively short time frame for evaluating what I've done and how to move forward. If the weather is uncooperative - I can walk indoors. And if I have to, I can add up a bunch of short distances walked in the same day. I'm including cycling in the hope that I can move some of my driving to riding.
Intentions
This is a prayer / meditation discipline. Others are welcome to join me! You can walk with me, or where you are; you can pray or meditate in the spirit of finding peace in our world where ever you find yourself, or drop by sometime - just give me a call or send a note. I encourage everyone to contribute to the movement for peace, in what ever way they are able. I should point out that I have a very broad definition of the peace movement, so anything that makes the world more peaceful - find a way to connect.
I mention all these possible connections because I've found that prayer is all about connection and relationship - so I want to share this experience with anyone that resonates with what I'm doing, making this a process of connection, and relationship. Hopefully co-creating, building, and reinforcing relationships that will support whatever this process yields.
Tools and Supports
I'm walking in an older pair of Saucony running sneakers that I inherited from Isaac when he outgrew them to start. I'm assuming that I'll wear these out somewhere around mile 200, and then I'll need something new. I'll be looking for a pair of New Balance 955 women's walking shoes - with the ankle support. I've chosen this particular shoe because it is likely made in the USA
I'm not rushing to the store for one of these; but once spring comes around, I'll be cycling, and need to carry Sam and Joshua safely. I've chosen a Chariot bike trailer. I've heard excellent things about this, and am looking forward to trying one. Not made is the USA; but in Canada by a family owned business. I'll be keeping my old Schwinn suburban, just getting it tuned up.
Lastly, I'm including Joshua and Samuel as teachers and guides - I've found that my children give me insights I simply cannot find on my own - I honestly don't take the time, or pay enough attention to what's happening around me without their intervention, and the structure they demand.
Thanks for reading! Questions welcomed and answered here. Peace and all good to you and yours.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Discipline and Disciple I
So this 1000 miles for peace idea idea has emerged from my prayer life only recently, right around Christmas. But the seed was planted a while ago, just before Sam was born. I had this idea ( I get lots of big ideas) that I would start training for a Team in Training (TnT) Marathon when he was three months old, loose all this weight, be all healthy and fit, and as an added bonus, I would be contributing to cancer research! How exciting!
Well the rubber ultimately didn't hit the road. I discovered that you have to raise _a lot_ of money; and frankly, I'm not the powerhouse money-raising type. I don't mind asking people for money per se; it's more the endless monotony of asking over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and -you get the picture. Then, if my children were going to join me, I would have to buy plane tickets for the _whole family_ (more $$), and it was unclear whether Sam could join me in the race. And to be perfectly honest - my college athletic career was a long time ago- it would be a long (very long) time for an infant to go without nursing, and that was the dealbreaker. So I shelved the idea, and it surfaced again just before Joshua was born... Maybe I should train for a marathon...
This time though, I started thinking about how I could re-imagine the TnT process, and do my own fundraiser for cancer research. I could honor my mother-in-law who died in 2007 from a relapse of breast cancer; and my godson who is currently winning his battle with childhood leukemia, and so many people I've known and loved that have been in the throes of cancer treatment. Perhaps I could run a local marathon, perhaps I could raise money independently, and I could definitely take the children along... The idea was really cooking; until I talked about it. I told my husband. He said "why don't you try a 10K first"? "Well, running a 10K is part of training for a marathon," I responded. "I just don't want to see you set yourself up for failure," he said. "Why don't you just go to the gym?" (because I hate the gym, it's a stupid waste of money, a scam, and vapid, and [replay endless monologue of previous arguments here]) So I told my brother (brother #3), an avid runner, and marathoner, and one of my athletic mentors. He said, "a marathon? in May?... That's not very..." "Should I train longer and run the Detroit Marathon in October?" I asked. "Yeah, that's a better idea..."
You see, never actually an affirmation that this was a _good_ idea.
Well the rubber ultimately didn't hit the road. I discovered that you have to raise _a lot_ of money; and frankly, I'm not the powerhouse money-raising type. I don't mind asking people for money per se; it's more the endless monotony of asking over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and -you get the picture. Then, if my children were going to join me, I would have to buy plane tickets for the _whole family_ (more $$), and it was unclear whether Sam could join me in the race. And to be perfectly honest - my college athletic career was a long time ago- it would be a long (very long) time for an infant to go without nursing, and that was the dealbreaker. So I shelved the idea, and it surfaced again just before Joshua was born... Maybe I should train for a marathon...
This time though, I started thinking about how I could re-imagine the TnT process, and do my own fundraiser for cancer research. I could honor my mother-in-law who died in 2007 from a relapse of breast cancer; and my godson who is currently winning his battle with childhood leukemia, and so many people I've known and loved that have been in the throes of cancer treatment. Perhaps I could run a local marathon, perhaps I could raise money independently, and I could definitely take the children along... The idea was really cooking; until I talked about it. I told my husband. He said "why don't you try a 10K first"? "Well, running a 10K is part of training for a marathon," I responded. "I just don't want to see you set yourself up for failure," he said. "Why don't you just go to the gym?" (because I hate the gym, it's a stupid waste of money, a scam, and vapid, and [replay endless monologue of previous arguments here]) So I told my brother (brother #3), an avid runner, and marathoner, and one of my athletic mentors. He said, "a marathon? in May?... That's not very..." "Should I train longer and run the Detroit Marathon in October?" I asked. "Yeah, that's a better idea..."
You see, never actually an affirmation that this was a _good_ idea.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
A physical and spiritual journey
I am walking and riding 1000 miles for peace in my birthday year February 1, 2009 - January 31, 2010. I am taking my two smallest children (2 years and 2 months) along for the ride, because I want them to have early memories of me as both active, and committed to working for peace.
Over the last 20 + years, I have engaged in a very wide range of activism, and have recently - the last four years or so- become increasingly disillusioned with activism. Disillusioned to the point where I'm just not invested in any of it any more - it all seems full of sound and fury signifying nothing. Or rather accomplishing nothing.
I am fed-up with my pro-life friends that cannot imagine protecting children in the womb as peace-making. I am spent on anti-war friends that consider some killing to be a basic human right. The end of the line was the 2008 election. I was heartbroken to see self-described "progressives" whoop and holler over a man that stands solidly to the right of Richard Milhous Nixon; while so-called "conservatives" circled their tents about a pair of lunatics that are unclear on how to balance a budget, and appear not to be aware of the US Constitution (look at their policies, compare your notes). The very fact of my anger was evidence enough that my peacemaking work was not taking me where I needed to go.
It was in the dark night of this disenchantment that I chose to take a sabbatical from my consulting work, and reevaluate things. This time also coincided with the birth of my fourth child; and the "baby-moon" with a newborn child - if fully embraced for what it is - can be a time of great spiritual/physical/emotional renewal for a woman. So I've spent several months, since September, thinking, meditating, and reflecting on what should be next. 1000 miles for peace is the answer.
It could easily be said that walking/biking 1000 miles over the course of a year accomplishes nothing. In fact, I've thought that. But I am engaging in this as a prayer/ meditation/ mindfulness discipline; I do this because of my deep faith that prayer is the most powerful agent of change. I believe that in the still quiet of this discipline, I will be able connect with the source that unites and restores us; and release that which divides. I don't claim to know what results that will produce - but I expect that kind of a connection to bear some fruit.
I invite anyone who is willing, to join me in any way they are able - accompany me for some of my scheduled walks/rides; pray for my endurance, and my children's patience; contribute to the peace movement; follow along on the blog and smile - however you are able, if this journey speaks to you, know that you are welcome and come along.
Over the last 20 + years, I have engaged in a very wide range of activism, and have recently - the last four years or so- become increasingly disillusioned with activism. Disillusioned to the point where I'm just not invested in any of it any more - it all seems full of sound and fury signifying nothing. Or rather accomplishing nothing.
I am fed-up with my pro-life friends that cannot imagine protecting children in the womb as peace-making. I am spent on anti-war friends that consider some killing to be a basic human right. The end of the line was the 2008 election. I was heartbroken to see self-described "progressives" whoop and holler over a man that stands solidly to the right of Richard Milhous Nixon; while so-called "conservatives" circled their tents about a pair of lunatics that are unclear on how to balance a budget, and appear not to be aware of the US Constitution (look at their policies, compare your notes). The very fact of my anger was evidence enough that my peacemaking work was not taking me where I needed to go.
It was in the dark night of this disenchantment that I chose to take a sabbatical from my consulting work, and reevaluate things. This time also coincided with the birth of my fourth child; and the "baby-moon" with a newborn child - if fully embraced for what it is - can be a time of great spiritual/physical/emotional renewal for a woman. So I've spent several months, since September, thinking, meditating, and reflecting on what should be next. 1000 miles for peace is the answer.
It could easily be said that walking/biking 1000 miles over the course of a year accomplishes nothing. In fact, I've thought that. But I am engaging in this as a prayer/ meditation/ mindfulness discipline; I do this because of my deep faith that prayer is the most powerful agent of change. I believe that in the still quiet of this discipline, I will be able connect with the source that unites and restores us; and release that which divides. I don't claim to know what results that will produce - but I expect that kind of a connection to bear some fruit.
I invite anyone who is willing, to join me in any way they are able - accompany me for some of my scheduled walks/rides; pray for my endurance, and my children's patience; contribute to the peace movement; follow along on the blog and smile - however you are able, if this journey speaks to you, know that you are welcome and come along.
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