Making Peace stronger requires more than can be done by major organisations such as the United Nations Organisation (UNO).
In spite of UNO's valuable work the inhumane impacts of modern violence challenge our optimism, our faiths and our hopes.
Optimism does not resolve conflicts
Faith does not break cycles of violence and revenge
Hope is a wish that's in need of a plan.
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Who can do more?
If UNO or other current actors could do more they probably would be already.
And there are no higher human authorities we can expect to step in.
We ourselves though can do lots of things that will help Peace by leaving fewer in need of UNO's help..
We cannot do what UNO does in the 'front-lines' of violent conflicts.
But we can help others to solve conflicts before they turn to violence.
See more about that in Posts on this site about Conflict.
The overall aim of the Woodbridge Trees and Monument for Peace
is to help all of us to make, grow and keep a better peace around and among ourselves.
For that, this site details and explains many activities, for our elderly, our young and everyone else.
The activities rest mostly on widely shared ideas about Peace.
The activities all have realistic attainable aims related to Peace.
Most of the activities are easy to do.
There are many other such activities. If you have your own constructive ideas, questions or thoughts please share them with us by Email.
Reach the Email link by clicking on the site Logo and scrolling down when you see the Home page.
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Starting from wherever you're reading this
Step one. Think and talk about Peace.
There's very simple advice from versatile performance artist Yoko Ono.
"All it may take for Peace to prevail is for more of us to think and talk about it more often"
So Posts on this site suggest practical starting points for thinking, for example about:
- Peace itself
- making Peace stronger
- a realistic target for a better Peace
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Step two - thinking about Peace itself
Posts in this Journal invite thinking and convey knowledge to shape understanding about Peace, through questions such as:
- do we agree about what peace is, or what peace might be?
- are there useful ‘proxies’ for peace?
- what is the origin of peace - as an idea or as an experience?
- can peace grow?
- where is peace? inner, personal, communal or where peace?
- has there been helpful advice about peace from researchers, educators or global leaders?
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Next steps - thinking about the strength of Peace
Many Posts are here to promote thought, knowledge and understanding about helpful ideas, such as:
- our personal 'soft tools' for Peace
- ‘Gifts to Peace’
- action for personal peace
- collaboration for Peace
- Peace as a process
- how new knowledge can strengthen Peace in the world
For example, we often use natural capacities such as patience, kindness and co-operation as 'soft tools' for creating and maintaining peaceful relationships.
'Thoughtfulness' is another of our peace making 'soft tools'.
See later how using those capacities, including 'thinking', are 'Gifts to Peace'.
Other steps to follow - for example about targets for a better Peace
Other Posts here invite thought about what makes targets realistic and how they be approached, for example
- by acknowledging problems in World Peace
- by measuring peace such as for the Global Peace Index
- by seeing serenity as a stage towards greater Peace
- by acting together for Peace (TWIGS)
- by refreshing and adding to our natural skills for Peace
- by making 'Gifts to Peace' where we know we can help.
Before you take many more steps, consider starting a notebook or a Peace diary. That act would be a valuable "Gift to Peace".
Stopping the annual decline of peace
A Global Peace Index research project is signaling that Peace is on a falling trend from year to year.
It's not falling rapidly. But it is falling steadily. And it is costly.
We can help some of the international work on this through donations to Charities.
More directly though, we can help by bearing down in practical ways on the causes of the decline, for example by:
- taking a closer interest in the quality of peace elsewhere around the world
- becoming informed and active as critical observers and commentators on conflict and on violence
- advocating for timely and earlier support in places where peace appears vulnerable
The LEARNING section of this website is here to help more of us become better informed
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Meanwhile and for any of the above . . .
Look on this site for more details of things to know, learn and understand about Peace.
Consider practical things to plan or to do for Peace. See the pages about ACTION for Peace
Check for further ideas among these Journal items.
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Wondering "what’s in it for me"?
Peace is not for individuals but for everyone: you, your children, your friends, relatives and other descendants.
For feeling good now
We are 'wired' from birth for rapid and beneficial effects on our minds and bodies when we do things that help Peace.
Acts of kindness, for example, are widely recognised as leading to a sensation of warmth and happiness.
The 'wiring' for that is explained by modern neuroscience. Warm sensations are the hormonal and neurochemical effects of dopamine, endorphins, oxytocin, serotonin and cortisol. Their release within us reduces feelings of stress and triggers feelings of pleasure, calmness, trust and satisfaction.
That's one of the ways 'Gifts to Peace' make Peace grow; 'Gifts to Peace' start by feeding our own Peace.
For feeling better - one day
The Global Peace Index estimates the annual cost of violence as a figure equivalent to a personal daily cost of about £5 for each of the world's 8.2 billion people.
The estimated global cost of US$ 20 trillion each year could become a deep pool of incentives for bearing down on violence.
Making that happen will not be simple. But a realistic project to achieve it might merit a Nobel Peace Prize nomination.
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Essentially though, Peace is a GROUP matter
The benefits of being part of a group are another of the things we have been 'wired' for by the evolution of our protective and rewarding hormonal and neurochemical systems.
The pleasant sensations of connection and trust are as significant for Peace as they are in work, sport and many other leisure activities.
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So, if you will ... accept a part here as one of a team
To accept that, simply share the fact that you're interested.
Doing that will of course be a 'Gift to Peace'
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Share the fact simply, safely and anonymously* by telling us approximately where you are.
Use the Email link on the Home page to tell us your area Postcode - or any other national equivalent, or your country and town names.
Other constructive thoughts, questions and ideas can be shared through this site in the same way.
* Your anonymity and privacy will remain intact. NO CONTACT OR OTHER PERSONAL INFORMATION CONVEYED BY YOUR MESSAGING SERVICES WILL BE RETAINED OR USED IN ANY OTHER WAY UNLESS YOU REQUEST OTHERWISE
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How big will the team be?
That depends in part on how many of our friends might join.
We'll know though because your Postcode will be used to populate a MAP so that all can see where else and how near-by our interest is shared.
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TOGETHER WE'LL INSPIRE GREATER SERENITY (TWIGS)