Minnesota / Wisconsin Gathering 2019

In order to live in a peaceful world, we need to treat our planet, Gaia, with the respect, love, and attention to her sustenance with which we treat our children. Climate change is the result of mistreating our amazing planet. Climate change is about changing weather patterns that make it hard for people to find drinking water for their children, that create flooding of homes and agriculture land, and that wither our crops under relentless sun. When people are hungry or thirsty, violence can easily erupt over food and water. Not just in Dafur but everywhere including the gathering.  How then do we show with our actions that we are actively working to protect Gaia from climatic changes that threaten world (and local) peace? Reduce the number of campfires. Burning carbon increases global warming. Plus if you see the cloud of wood smoke in main meadow at a gathering, you'll realize that reducing the number of campfires will improve the health of every gathering participant. Cli

A common point of discussion when working towards peace is defining what peace is and isn't, what it looks like, which activities are considered "peaceful" and which are not. I think at the extreme ends of the spectrum, most people can agree on what peace is and isn't. For example, most people would consider dropping bombs on other people to be the opposite of peace. Most people would consider the silent prayer/meditation for world peace and the om to be examples of peace. That's the easy stuff. In fact trying to define peace can cause even the most peaceful among us to be less than peaceful.  So what do we do if we say we want peace, but we can't even agree on what peace looks like, feels like, acts like or talks like? I'll throw out a couple of high level ideas, but even these are subject to much discussion. I hope you continue these discussions in the circles in which you find yourself. If all goes as planned, I will be doing a few workshops at

One of my friends has a great blog called Kitchens of Rainbow . Screen shot of Kitchens of Rainbow Blog Here's an excerpt from a great post on The Belly Buttons of Rainbow . The purpose of the Kitchens of Rainbow was originally to help very disparate sections of Rainbow get to know a little more about each other, to give voice to the heartsongs of folks rarely asked. Even at Rainbow it can be easy to gravitate only towards the people you vibe with and see those who aren’t like you as “other.” It’s also remarkably easy to assume by looking at someone that we know something about their values, their beliefs, and what’s important to them. And while this may be especially true of the divide between “shanti rainbows” and “dirty kids,” it happens with other demographics as well.