Question: What comes to mind when you think of "peace"?....
When I think of peace, lots of ideas flow in. I think of the normal connotations first, of course, like hippies, world peace, the seventies, and also the Vietnam War comes to mind. I also think of different countries or nations that fight for peace or negotiate for peace with other. Thoughts of music about peace, from the sixties, seventies, and even the present come to mind as well as the thought of people doing good deeds for each other. Almost inevitably I also think about peace's sworn enemy violence, it's exact opposite. People in pain, suffering, and war are the things that make people long for peace. The symbol for peace as well as the hand sign for peace also comes up. Lots of groups strive for peace in many different aspects such as the U.N. which tries to keep peace between countries around the world, others like PETA for animals, and the NAACP for black rights and their peace and the list goes on. Peace is hard to come by nowadays, though. Everything has a violent manner or is out of control so you can't feel too peaceful. Including TV, news, and politics it seems the overall tone is unsettling and makes people anxious. Not just here either because things around the world make you anxious, too. Sometimes it seems the world is going crazy with all of its events, but you have to remember the flip side. At the same time I have to remember the calm in life, nature, love, and so on. Some think that peace isn't real or is a misconception, To me, though, peace is just a state of mind and it differs from person to person, depending who they are.
I really agree with you especially on the last part. Every individual has their own way of thinking and thus peace has no absolute definition. I was once told that for every negative thing you have to hear of at least three positive to overwrite the negative one. I think this shows how it becomes easier to think about negative things such as hopelessness than it is to think about positive ones like peace. A lot of the times we generalize peace so much that we do not think about what it means for every individual including ourselves. I have come to the conclusion that you can’t find peace for others if you don’t first look for it for yourself. If you haven’t found that thing that makes you happy you will never be able to help others find their own.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, many of us think of "war" but then we think of "love" when we hear the word peace. It is very sad to know we are far from gaining that peace we need world-wide. Looking at it on the bright side, being respectful to others, loving others etc., can make a lot of us feel very good about ourselves and become better persons in our community, and also help others conserve peace!=)
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comment on "peace differs from person to person" and it is true, peace is hard to come by, it's extremely difficult now a day because everyone wants to be the best and so many disagree with each others point of view. How can we all disagree, and yet still maintain peace? If we are all at war with ourselves, how can we be at peace with others? Henceforth, YES! Peace IS hard to come by.
ReplyDeleteI like how you say that peace differs when it comes to different people. Like depending on how a person is can mean the different meanings of peace to them. They have their own meanings and thoughts about the word and meaning of peace. Many people want peace to be like perfect and what not, but not all people think of peace as being something perfect. I liked your post.
ReplyDelete