Dance, Recite, and Converse for Earth Day!

For this Earth Day, we wanted to share with you some of the movies, music, and books that have inspired us to joyfully engage in our environmental activism.

Mindwalk.  This movie is a favorite of Ian’s.  It is based on the book Turning Point by physicist Fritjof Capra.  Capra is best know for his book, The Tao of Physics which removes the artificial barriers between religious understanding and scientific understanding.  The book, The Turning Point, presented the movie maker’s problem of how to turn a book about the complexity of our ecological problems into a narrative.  The solution was to set it in a beautiful place,  Mont. St. Michael, France.  And set in motion a discussion between a physicist (Liv Ullmann) and poet (John Heard), and a former presidential candidate  (Sam Waterston) as they walk through Mont. St. Michael.  The narrative form also provided a solution to a lesser problem.  There was already a very famous ballet movie called Turning Point, so the Capra’s movie was named Mindwalk to avoid confusion and reflect the new form.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMZ9xwfmNvs]  Continue reading Dance, Recite, and Converse for Earth Day!

Happy Easter: An uplifting peace song for the day

Happy Easter! And, Happy Spring! “New World Coming” is the Peace Song of the Day for this Easter holiday, April 8th.

Continue reading Happy Easter: An uplifting peace song for the day

How will peace find us?……… Peace Song for 4/7

Harmony” (2010) by Christofer Drew, of the band Never Shout Never, is the Peace Song of the Day for 4/7.

Continue reading How will peace find us?……… Peace Song for 4/7

Passover and Easter: 10 Ways To Foster Peace For The Holidays

The Spring Holidays are a perfect time for sharing and celebrating, as well as for learning and inspiring positive change.

Kimberly and Ian Wilder, the team behind Peace Couple, share interesting holidays. One of us is from a Jewish tradition, and the other is from a Christian tradition. Both of us resonate with Buddhism, and ancient, earth-based celebrations of the seasons.

Both Easter and Passover are Spring Holidays that celebrate renewal. Passover also celebrates Freedom.

We made a list in order to share some ideas and links for inserting peace and nonviolence into the Spring holidays.

10 Ways to foster peace for Easter and Passover

1. Put a tomato on your Seder plate. Continue reading Passover and Easter: 10 Ways To Foster Peace For The Holidays

Remembering oppression: Peace Song for 4/6/2012

“Go Down Moses [Let My People Go]”, an American Spiritual, is the Peace Song of the Day for April 6th. This song is often sung by Jewish families as part of the Passover Seder. Paul Robeson used this song to merge the story of the ancient Jews, oppressed under Pharao, with the story of African-Americans, struggling for human rights.

The Duchess of Peace would like to dedicate this song to the five Supreme Court Justices, who ruled last week that Americans can be strip searched for crimes such as traffic laws, dog leash laws, and jaywalking: Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Anthony Kennedy, Justice Samuel Alito, Jr., Justice Antonin Scalia and Justice Clarence Thomas.

Passover tells the story of people struggling against oppression. In the end, the story is about victory and freedom. May Americans win in their struggle against The Strip Search Decision; the NDAA decision about indefinite detention; and our current climate of militarism and fear.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gtLcELU1brA] Continue reading Remembering oppression: Peace Song for 4/6/2012

Opera for Peace: Peace Song for 4/5/2012

March With Me” is the Peace Song of the Day for April 5th. I believe that this is the first time that our daily peace song has been from the genre of opera. “March With Me” is performed by Montserrat Caballe and Vangelis. Ms. Caballe is a Spanish, operatic soprano. Vangelis is a Greek composer. Both have made a mark on popular culture.

The words to “March With Me” are beautiful and uplifting (and simple enough, that you may be able to memorize them.)
Continue reading Opera for Peace: Peace Song for 4/5/2012