What Does Peace Mean to You?

One of the definitions of peace that I like from Are We Done Fighting? is this one from the Quaker United Nations Office:

Quaker United Nations Office wrote:Peacebuilding is both the development of human and institutional capacity for resolving conflicts without violence, and the transformation of the conditions that generate destructive conflict

As for me personally, I think peace means having healthy relationships with oneself, others, and the wider world.

What does peace mean to you?

I feel peace when I don't care about what other people think or do.

Realizing that everything, everyone is me.

Peace is a lot of things, but a few I can think of at the moment are - forgiveness, acceptance, honesty, sharing, and gardening.

Peace can be a long hard road...it's a journey but ultimately it becomes a destination.

I also like the types of peace that are outlined in the Canadian Friends Service Committee's definition of peacebuilding:

CFSC thinks of three levels through which the culture of peacebuilding flows:

• inner peace —  attitudes, beliefs, and habits conducive to peace
• interpersonal peace —  peace in interactions with other people
• structural peace —  political and social structures that support peace.

Each is simultaneously influenced by, and influencing, the others.

• structural peace —  political and social structures that support peace.  

Peace from the moral relativist position allows for a wider expression of individuality, I think, than does the peace expected by the moral absolute position.

The Absolutist actively pursues the restriction of the Relativist and the Relativist must bear their fury and disdain without resorting to their tactics.
Peace therefor is an uneasy seesaw and a personal chapter in the war between principles.

Peace comes from doing good, being good, and always being kind. Or, as the famous saying goes: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. We're all in this together--period.

I experience peace when I relocate slugs from my garden plants instead of smashing them. I experience peace when I allow others to think whatever they think, but bring my whole self to the table to enjoy their company. I recognize, more and more, the structures built into our dominate society that disallow peace amongst us. As I take myself further away from the mainstream of society, I am working gently toward finding ways to nurture peace-structures within this wider world of all humans, just on my little hill here in New Hampshire, and just bit by bit, a little bit like the way the slugs in my garden work over the lowest leaves of my kale plants first, giving me time to find them new homes and still eat the top leaves to my heart's content.

That's perhaps not so cogent, but it sums up the feeling, and work, of peace I experience today.

Peace is an infinite web of interconnected sustainable systems working together to eliminate the very concept of waste to deliver abundance in most all biomes, and at least rude plenty in the harshest.

Peace is solitude in wilderness, those calm moments that seem almost static until the silent dynamism and deafening quiet kick in. And the crickets or birdsong.

Peace is also a virtual absence of my beloved fellow human beings. Sorry, people, but people en masse can be my least favourite animal. I can more easily find peace when I at least have elbowroom. Mental elbowroom is a thing, too.

Thank you, Permies, for that peace.

-CK

Peace is tranquility, calmness, and quietness where no conflict or disharmony exists.

Contrary to popular opinion, there are two paths to peace.

The first is the path of resolution through love, honor, and mutual respect. The second is the path of resolution through death. This second path is why the V symbol was adopted to communicate peace. It is historically the sign of Typhon, god of destruction and death (a.k.a Set). The symbolism was adopted by the allied forces near the end of WWII to rally the population in the cause of achieving peace through annihilation of the enemy.

The hippie movement in its ignorance, adopted this symbol of peace without regarding the path to peace it advocates.

Whenever a public figure starts up on rhetoric that makes use of the word peace, I am always vigilant to what path they are actually advocating. When you know about this, you realize why war often follows close on the heals of talk about peace. These leaders aren't lying to us, they are telling us in advance exactly what they are going to do so that there will be no karmic repercussions for them. It is the population who fails to listen.

So yeah peace is a destination state that has two very different paths that lead there.

Personally, I think peace is tolerance and acceptance. If you can accept your neighbor's different viewpoint and tolerate being near it, then you won't feel agitation. Thus, peace will prevail. Seems like these days, tolerance is about as common as common sense. :-P

Nick Kitchener wrote:Peace is tranquility, calmness, and quietness where no conflict or disharmony exists.

Contrary to popular opinion, there are two paths to peace.

The first is the path of resolution through love, honor, and mutual respect. The second is the path of resolution through death. This second path is why the V symbol was adopted to communicate peace. It is historically the sign of Typhon, god of destruction and death (a.k.a Set). The symbolism was adopted by the allied forces near the end of WWII to rally the population in the cause of achieving peace through annihilation of the enemy.

The hippie movement in its ignorance, adopted this symbol of peace without regarding the path to peace it advocates.

Whenever a public figure starts up on rhetoric that makes use of the word peace, I am always vigilant to what path they are actually advocating. When you know about this, you realize why war often follows close on the heals of talk about peace. These leaders aren't lying to us, they are telling us in advance exactly what they are going to do so that there will be no karmic repercussions for them. It is the population who fails to listen.

So yeah peace is a destination state that has two very different paths that lead there.

Hi Nick,

I think the distinction often made in Peace Studies between "negative peace" (apparent stability often maintained through threats and force, as in a dictatorship that seems tranquil because dissenters are disappeared) and "positive peace" (that is peace grounded in justice) is an important one. The oft repeated idea that peace comes after war has cleared the way for it, which I think is what you're saying you're wary of, seems very backward. Chapters 19 and 20 of the book explain why. I believe that this path you've identified as "annihilation of the enemy" doesn't relate in any way to positive peace.

I don't even think this is a controversial idea once folks reflect on it. It's widely accepted that wars are inherently destabilizing and have unpredictable and catastrophic effects, but there are various reasons we still support them, which are described in the book.

I think we do better to consider peace as not the opposite of war, but as positive peace, which isn't just a static end point that could be reached by killing all our enemies or by creating the perfect conditions where people stop bugging us. It's more of a dynamic state, and not something only involving the highest-level social and political bodies like the UN either, but a process that gets brought into being by each of us.

Many claim they want peace, but not if it comes at the expense of loss - of their values, their possessions, their pride, fill in the blank that holds meaning for you. Righteous indignation is frequently clung to.

I am not wise enough to be the one dropped into the Middle East, and shining a bright light on the path to peace, guiding everyone to peace.

What I find interesting is each faction wants the same exact things - safe homes to raise their children, sufficient healthy food, friendly neighbors/communities, medical care, a life free of worry and stress, some form of fun, recreation, art/artistic expression, etc.

I know that we listen to media (news, tv, radio, internet) that supports our beliefs, reinforcing that we are right.

I know too that we all want to be heard, and understood, and respected and valued and considered.

Has everyone heard of NVC? Terrible name, great skillset. Non Violent Communication. Developed by Marshall Rosenberg who grew up in a rough neighborhood and was influenced by Carl Rogers (Unconditional Positive Regard) among others.  In a nutshell - 1)Learn to make non judgmental observations 2)Identify your own and others feelings 3)Identify your own and others needs 4)Learn to make doable requests. It is being taught in a school in the Middle East in the hopes that Israeli and Palestinian children will learn to speak and listen differently. It takes A LOT of practice when you are not triggered to be able to use the skills when you are triggered.

Here you can find some of Marshall's best loved quotes to get the flavor of his heart.  -  https://www.azquotes.com/author/18421-Marshall_B_Rosenberg

Peace In. Peace Out.


☮   ✌️

(Edited to remove a duplicate word I noticed after I published it.)

Peace means to me, first do no harm.  Mutual respect.  Mutual benefit.  Not placing conditions on these.  Consideration without expectation.  Remembering heart and home are sanctuaries that deserve the best, while remembering the same is true for others.

Peace to me means freedom from oppression. And freedom from oppression to me means freedom from hierarchy, among other things.

Peace is what exists before we humans muck things up.

Big question, with as many answers as there are people, yet it shouldn't be.

To me peace is not a consequence but a state of being.  The absence of war is not going to bring me peace, if war is still raging in my heart.  Sitting in silence on the edge of a beautiful lake will not bring me peace if my inner self is in turmoil.  Peace is an inner feeling that needs to be discovered and nurtured.

Between the first breath that I took upon my birth to the last I will take upon my death, my life, my existence is taking place.  Each breath that I take is a gift and a blessing that I acknowledge and I am content to make each day count.  Each morning, when I wake up, I am surprised, delighted and grateful that I am still alive.  It's not morbidity, just awareness that life is so very short and not to be taken for granted.  I suppose a heart full of gratitude allows me to feel peace, and everyday, I am grateful for being alive with all the possibilities it affords.

I am with Mr Lofthouse on this one.  A day without interacting with others is peace.  I stopped opening my personal US mail correspondence over 20 years ago. I didn't need the drama.  My email is dumped without reading it unless I am expecting something.  I do not answer my telephone and seldom call back.  My tv runs off my cell phone hot spot ... which should give you an idea as to how much it is watched.

Not meaning to preach, just each has their thoughts on this subject, mine, which I battle daily in this world, is to try to live by principles mentioned at Galatians 5:22,23
The Do Unto others mentioned actually comes from the Bible Matthew 7:12

To A Good Day  :)