From time to time, it’s good to revisit your core values. Check the compass and make sure you’re still headed in the right direction. I’m not a nautical person, but I know that when you’re in a boat, it might feel like you’re going straight, but the winds can blow you off course if you’re not paying attention.. Try swimming across a river with a strong current and you’ll be dragged downstream.
So you have to be intentional—strategic even—to get where you intend to go.
I’ve been working on A Peace of My Mind for more than 15 years. I started because I was frustrated with all the things that ask us to focus on what divides us. I wondered if there was something I could do with my storytelling and art to rediscover what connects us.
I don’t have to tell you that things haven’t gotten better. Our world has grown more polarized. We’ve leaned into contention and conflict over compassion and connection. And that’s frustrating. Worrisome. Demoralizing. But it hasn’t changed my commitment to this work. If anything, I can see that it’s more important than ever.
It can feel like the challenges of the world are bigger than the solutions we bring to the table. As powerful as A Peace of My Mind’s engagements can be…as much as I recognize the ability of stories and art to change people’s hearts and shine light into dark corners…we are sailing in some rough waters.
I’ve heard it said, “Don’t work against the things you hate, but work for the things you love.”
So for your benefit and mine, I’ll restate here some of the core beliefs and values that guide me. Some of the things we love that we will continue to work for, framed by the words of some of the wise folks I have interviewed through the years.
“I’m drawn to places that are complicated, but beautiful. Part of my calling is to do healing work, to lift some of the heaviness so we can move into the future.” A Peace of My MInd will continue to visit complicated and beautiful places. We will work to get close to the issues of the day and the people who are impacted by them, because being in conversation with people is how I begin to understand complicated issues and start the long work of healing in a world that knows so many wounds.
“When you’re uncomfortable, that’s when the learning starts.” Uncomfortable conversations. Uncomfortable truths. Uncomfortable circumstances. Part of my artistic process has been rooted in learning to become comfortable with discomfort. To be patient with it and see what can be drawn from it. We tend to resist and retreat from discomfort, but I have learned that there is growth in it.
“People see us as radical because we participate in radical acceptance.” My faith tradition calls us to love one another. I’m no theologian but I have looked for the loopholes and the exceptions and I don’t think they exist. It doesn’t say love the ones who look like you. It doesn’t say love the ones who live like you. It doesn’t even say love the ones who voted like you in the last election cycle. It says love one another. Period. And that’s the foundation our work will be built on.
“Can we take our history and find ways to bless the good and redeem the bad?” Our personal and collective histories are made up of proud and horrific moments. We have much to celebrate and much to reckon with. A Peace of My Mind will strive to live in and hold that tension gently. We will do our best to address our challenges honestly and directly, while approaching them with grace, hope, and the belief that something better is possible.
“It’s a global problem, and the mechanisms for adjudicating things on a global scale are not strong.” Most of our biggest challenges are global issues. Migration patterns, economic trends, international crime syndicates, climate change, hunger, pandemics, the rise of authoritarianism, ai, and more. The issues are so large and complex that unilateral action by any one country will be insufficient to address it and international coordination is required. Where the structures of international cooperation are weak, A Peace of My Mind advocates for strengthening relationships over abandonment.
“One of our goals is that they have human dignity. Not to let them lose their hope.” Perhaps one of the most important calls for A Peace of My Mind is to offer encouragement. We will use our work to help communities and individuals feel seen, heard, and valued. And we will work to amplify voices that are often not heard loudly enough in order to offer all people dignity and hope.
“I’m going to care. If the world gets better, wonderful. If it doesn’t get better, I’m still going to care.” There is a story of a man who was protesting a nuclear weapons site in the southwest United States. Every day he would sit naked in the desert, beside the remote access road, holding his sign all alone. One day a trucker who drove the lonely route pulled over and said, “What are you doing out here? There’s nobody around for miles. You’ll never change anyone’s mind out here.” And the man replied, “I’m not here to change the powers that be. I’m here to make sure those powers don’t change me.”
“We can’t allow the actions of one bad person to change who we are as human beings.” When our values guide us, our actions are not predicated on someone else’s response. Outside forces should not bend and shape the universal truths we hold close. Another relevant quote: “I want to love those who haven’t shown me love. I want to be kind to those who may not deserve my kindness.” It’s easy to love those who will love you in return, but when we can love those who may not reciprocate, we’re on holy ground.
“Life is hard and there’s lots of ugliness, but there’s always more goodness. There’s always more love.” Moving toward love, hope, and healing is a choice and a position of strength. I once asked combat photographer James Nachtway how he could sustain his spirit after having seen so many horrific things and he said that no matter how ugly the scene, he always saw small glimmers of humanity in people caring for one another. No matter how bad the headlines, and the ongoing evidence that there are bad people in the world, I am convinced that the good people outnumber them, 1,000 to 1.
Remember your true north. Stay on course.