People Help The People

I was listening to Birdy's cover of Cherry Ghost's song "People Help The People", a cover which I absolutely adore because of the beautiful piano in it, and it got me thinking about the world. My favourite lyrics are in the chorus: "People help the people/ And if you're homesick/ Give me your hand and I'll hold it." It's all about being kind to one another. Now, it sounds like the song is talking about specific people like those less fortunate but the messages in the song can be applied to the world as a whole. Some other lyrics are "God knows what is hiding in this world of little consequence/ Behind the tears, inside the lies/ A thousand slowly dying sunsets." I think that these specific lyrics really speak because so much is happening in the world these days and it seems like people aren't thinking about how it affects everyone. People seem to just want to do whatever they want. They think of themselves. They have certain opinions, and we're all allowed to have our own opinions about things, but do we really want to hurt people because of the way that we think about things?

People fight each other. They hurt each other. And it's all because they think a certain way or they are a certain way and they don't like things that are different from them. It seems like if someone doesn't like someone else for whatever reason, they think that they don't have to show that person respect. The thing is, if the world was that way, then no one would be shown any respect because everyone is different in some way and there are some differences that we have that other people don't like. Differences are what make this world amazing. If everyone was the same, life wouldn't be as interesting. We need to be more accepting of differences and we need to be more kind to each other. A lot of problems could be solved or wouldn't even exist if we were just more kind to each other and showed each other more respect.

Lately, it feels like we're just going backwards into the past. We are seeing problems similar to those faced by the people who came before us. We are still seeing discrimination against all sorts of different types of people because of their race, religion, gender, sexuality, etc. It's 2017... shouldn't we be getting along with each other by now? Shouldn't we be accepting each other's differences, whatever they might be? People are being disrespectful towards people that they don't even know, just because that person is different from them in some way and they think that it's bad. Hate is not the answer to the world's problems and it certainly will not help us get anywhere closer to having a more peaceful world.

I'm proud to be Canadian and to live in Canada because my country is becoming more and more accepting of all sorts of different types of people, and we also tend to be friendly, but even my country still has some improvements to make. Every country has some people who are not as nice as the others and the whole world still needs to become more accepting of everyone and make some changes so that everyone can live peacefully.

I understand that animals fight and are territorial but we, as humans, have evolved and developed so much! Shouldn't we be past that? I always think: We all walk this Earth. Why don't we walk together? In other words, we share this Earth so why don't we live together in harmony? It doesn't take much. Just smiling more or thinking more before you speak can make a big difference. Accept others who are different from you and hopefully they will accept your differences in return. Be respectful. Treat others how you want to be treated. We are all human. We all share this Earth. Hopefully one day, we can all live together peacefully and celebrate our differences instead of hating them. Imagine how much better the world would be then!

Cheers,
Kaylie

Finding Inner Peace Before Outer Peace

During the time that I've spent facing my personal challenges and figuring out how to deal with them, I came to a realization about peace. It came to me as a question: How can I want the world to be at peace if I'm not even at peace with myself? Seeing all of the bad things that have been happening in the world within  the past few years (and even longer than that), I have wondered what it's going to take for the world to be peaceful. Of course, you can hope for peace or you can create it, one little step at a time. However, you need to find inner peace first. How can you speak of peace if you haven't even found peace within you? If you haven't learned to control your own challenges? If you are going through tough times? Maybe spreading peace in the world will help you with your inner peace but shouldn't you focus on your inner peace before outer peace? Shouldn't you find peace within yourself? Shouldn't you learn to be at peace with yourself? Shouldn't you create peace within yourself?

Sure, you can smile and pretend that everything is okay while you try to spread peace and help other people but all that you'll be doing is wearing a mask if you don't address what you're going through and do something about it. Wouldn't you like to be at peace before you start spreading peace? It's just like that idea of self-love: How can you love other people if you don't even love yourself? By finding inner peace, we learn how to be peaceful and I think that's the first step to making the world peaceful. Be a peaceful person. Show peace. Feel peace. Be peace. Then you can create peace outside of yourself.

Now, I admit that I still have some work to do on myself. I want peace in the world but I am still in the process of finding peace within myself. Writing this post, I felt like maybe I am not qualified to write it since I am still in the process of doing exactly what I say should be done. But then again, I need to write this to get these ideas out and start acting on them. I need to address the fact that I am still working on finding inner peace so that I can begin to find inner peace. And then I can work on taking steps to do my part in making the world a more peaceful place.

My problem is that I bottle up a lot. I bottle up emotions, thoughts, worries, and fear. I bottle them up until I finally just break down. My mind is not always at peace. It's a crazy storm that just keeps going, as well as growing bigger. It makes it hard to concentrate. It makes it hard to relax. If I address what I'm feeling and learn how to deal with it in a healthy way, then I'll be able to focus on other things. I could try to focus on other things but it would only be temporary. My restless mind will just be there waiting for me to get back after the distraction.

People find peace in various ways. Meditation, yoga, belief systems, art, and music are just some of the ways that people relax and deal with whatever life throws at them. Our mind can be both our best friend and our greatest enemy. It can pick us up or it can throw us down. We need to learn how to control it. We need to use it to our advantage. We need to use it to make ourselves better people and make the world a better place. We need to remember to keep working on it and then, someday, we will feel enough inner peace to be able to spread our peace further out into the world.

Wishing you peace,
Kay

I Shall Have Some Peace There

My family owns a camp, a little cabin in the bush (woods) with a small wood-stove. It is like a second home. When we started using it again regularly this year, two years had passed since we had last visited it. I checked my journal and found out that the last time that we were there was September 22nd, 2013 and we had arrived on September 21st and stayed there overnight. The day that we finally visited again was September 21st, 2015, the day which, two years ago, had been the last night that we would spend there for a while. Of course, some of our relatives who also partly own the camp may have visited it during that time, but it didn't look like it had been used very much.

We have been trying to use it more now. It feels good to go back there, where it is quiet and relaxing. Where we are surrounded by nature. Where there are less distractions. Where we are away from society, away from civilization. I could go on and on but the point is, it's peaceful there. When I am there, I am surrounded by nature and I am also surrounded by my family since we go there together.

I also find that it is easier for me to concentrate on various activities like reading books and working on various projects. I like writing there and working on crafts like my loom knitting. There are so many distractions at my family's house and there are just so many things to be done there. At our camp, however, life is simple. There aren't a million things to do, only a few. That leaves time for working on other things. The quiet of the bush and the warmth of the wood-stove provide a great atmosphere. We sit quietly and read or work on whatever we like. In the mornings, we meditate, and on Saturday evening, we listen to Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap on CBC Radio, a radio show where Randy Bachman shares songs that fall under a theme (a different theme is chosen for each show) and shares stories from his experience as a musician and his experiences meeting various other musicians.

Of course, many experiences of mine remind me of songs or literature and my experiences of staying at my camp are no different. In William Butler Yeats' poem, "The Lake Isle Of Innisfree," he talks about going to Innisfree and he describes Innisfree and describes what he will do there. At one point in the poem, he says, "I shall have some peace there." For Yeats, Innisfree is where he finds peace. For me, my family's camp is where I find peace.

Cheers,
Kay