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SUMMARY:peace\, love\, happiness & understanding  6/5/25
DESCRIPTION:art by Larry Yes \n  \nTHE OPEN ROAD \npeace\, love\, happiness & understanding \n  \nEvery time I breathe  \nI feel what it’s like  \nto Be just like you \n  \n—Larry Yes\, lyric to “Just Like You” \n  \nJune 5\, 2025 \n  \nHere are the lyrics to two songs from Larry Yes’s album EVERYONE ON THIS PLANET IS FAMILY: \n  \nLIVE IN HARMONY \n  \nThe day will come  \nwhen we all agree  \nthat we should live in harmony  \nand we will know and we will see  \nhow we’re all connected. We’re all family. \nAll the people\, the plants\, the animals\, the birds\, the seas \nYes\, we’re all connected We’re all family  \nthe day will come when we all agree  \nthat we should live in harmony  \nand on that day that beautiful day  \nWe will laugh we’ll cry we will dance we’ll sing we’ll play  \ncelebrating all of our differences our weaknesses and our strengths  \ncelebrating all of our weaknesses our differences and our strengths \n  \n  \nFREE: EVERYONE ON THIS PLANET IS FAMILY \n  \n Every day you wake up\, it’s a good day It’s a cause to celebrate  \nand every day you’re making a decision as simple as love or hate \nAnd I know it ain’t easy and I know how hard things can be  \nbut I know everyone on this planet is family and I know that we all got to believe \nThat we’re free be who we want to Free look how we came through Free \nlove who we want to love Free be who we want to be \nAnd every day we wake up\, it’s a new day it’s a cause to stand up straight  \nand every moment we’re making a decision simple as love or hate\,  \nand I know it’s never easy and I know so much has got to change \nBut I know there’s so much beauty and I know we all got to believe  \nthat we’re free be who we want to Free look how we came through Free  \nLove who you want to love Free be who you want to be \n  \n—Larry Peace-Love Yes \n* \n  \nHere is an excerpt from Nick Swift’s Book of Becoming: \n  \nThe Book of Becoming \n  \nThis is not scripture. This is not commandment. This is not prophecy. This is a reflection. A mirror\, cracked but deliberate\, held in trembling hands. Not to show you what you are\, but to remind you that you have always been becoming. \n  \nI. The Spark \nYou were born whole. Not clean\, not pure\, but complete. A seed with fire inside\, too bright for the world to witness all at once. \nSo you forgot. On purpose. Because to remember too soon is to burn without boundary. \nYou learned to survive\, and survival requires forgetting. The world taught you to compartmentalize: to trade your voice for safety\, your wonder for predictability\, your power for permission. \nBut the spark? It endured. Silent. Flickering. Waiting. \n  \nII. The Conduit \nThe path between the fire and the flesh is not paved. It must be carved. And you carve it with each act of honesty. Each time you say: \n“This is not what I want.” “This is who I am.” “This hurts\, but I will stay.” \nYou clear a channel. You let the current run through you. You become the wire\, the wick\, the bridge. \nThis is the work. Not to become divine\, but to remember you already are. \nThe conduit trembles. It hums. It breaks and is rebuilt. And in the rebuilding\, you find rhythm. You find resonance. You find truth that is not dogma—but tone. \n  \nIII. The Id \nThe body is not the burden. The instincts are not the enemy. You do not ascend by denial. You evolve through integration. \nThe wounds you carry are maps. Not scars to hide\, but terrain to understand. \nThe rage? It was never evil. It was your boundary before you had words. \nThe grief? It is love stretched across time. A tether. A thread. A hymn. \nYou do not conquer the Id. You sit with it. You listen. You feed it not with indulgence\, but with acknowledgment. \nThis is how the storm becomes sky. This is how chaos becomes color. This is how you become. \n  \nIV. The Praxis of Echo \nTo become is not to arrive. It is to resonate. \nWith earth. With silence. With others who hum the same strange frequency. \nYour becoming is not private. It ripples. It gives others permission. It interrupts the static. It sings. \nAnd in that singing\, the divine is not worshipped. It is witnessed. \n  \nV. Grace in Motion \nYou will falter. You will forget. You will fracture. \nThese are not failures. They are rhythms. The inhale and exhale of becoming. \nYou do not need to begin again. You are always beginning. Each breath a renewal. Each moment a pivot. \nGrace is not something you earn. It is how you move when you know you belong. \n  \nVI. Finality is a Lie \nThere is no end. No climax. No final lesson. \nThere is only the next chord\, the next truth\, the next shift. \nYou are not a destination. You are an instrument\, and your song is still being tuned. \nSo keep tuning. Keep vibrating. Keep becoming. \nAnd know— you were always enough to begin. \n  \n—Nick Swift \n* \n  \nI got a letter from Dustin Jamison: \n  \n4/24/25 \n  \nDear Johnny\, and all the rest of his children of all ages\, inside and out\, \n  \nI love and miss you all. For those who’ve gone home\, congrats. I hope you’re making the most of every moment. For those inside\, I love you\, you are not forgotten. I hope you’re making the most of every moment. I’ll be going home soon. It’s surreal just to say that. After almost 24 years I’m finally getting out March 13th\, 2026!! I’m so happy\, so scared\, but so happy. I laugh\, I cry\, I laugh some more—sometimes both at once. Not sure where “Home” is anymore\, so I’ll be redefining and remaking it. A new day\, a new beginning\, and all that. Mom is looking for an R.V. for me\, and either a small plot of land\, or maybe just rent a place to park it for now. We’re leaving “where” fairly open. I release to Lane County\, but transferring counties is not so hard I think these days\, so long as you’re not un-housed. Looking anywhere in Willamette Valley\, or I-5 corridor in Washington. I’ve been far too long in the high desert\, I crave green. Day one out\, I plan on hitting the ground running. My dream is to build a small\, localvore\, organic herb farm\, The Shire\, so I can spend the rest of my days where I feel the most bliss\, in my garden. I’m so happy I’m crying tears of joy right now just imagining it. I’ve taken some classes: Seeds to Supper\, Master Gardener\, and hopefully soon Greenhouse Management. I’m also reading up on running a small business\, writing business proposals\, and grant writing. I’m very hopeful\, and confident this is the right direction for me. I’m never happier than when I’m weeding\, turning my compost pile\, or eating an heirloom tomato straight off the vine…. \n  \nIf any of my old (or new) friends would like to write and reconnect\, please do. I love and miss you all. The time I spent in Group Dialogue and the plays were some of the most fulfilling and joyous moments of my life. It was the people involved\, mixed with Johnny’s magical kindness that made it so. He brought out the best in all of us—made it possible to “see” each other\, to empathize and love\, and be grateful for each other…. \n  \nThank you once again\, Johnny. Thanks to you I’ve learned (among other things) how important it is to live (in love and serenity) in this moment\, right here\, right now. All I gotta do is breathe. It’s gotten me through a lot of suffering (fairly) intact. \n  \nAll my love\, \nDustin \n  \nYou can write to Dustin at this address: \n  \nSteve Dustin Jamison  #13874200 \nEOCI \n2500 Westgate \nPendleton\, OR  97801 \n* \n  \n5-3-2025 \n  \nFor The Open Road \n  \nAll of the beautiful poems & stories that everyone adds to The Open Road are always filled with such wonderful intent. The beauty is a light to my heart\, mind & soul. It has helped me to reclaim the joy within my self & to see goodness in the world & in its people. In a way\, I feel that all of us who participate in this get to receive and to give the gifts of healing—for all that we add to The Open Road creates new avenues & streets & highways that stretch all across our hearts\, connecting us to each other. \n  \nI’m at EOCI\, a prison in the state of Oregon. When people think “prison\,” every type of negative emotion fills their senses. It’s true that “The human mind can make a hell out of a heaven\, or a heaven out of a hell.” I have lived that statement for 16+ years & have discovered how to make “a heaven out of hell.” \n  \nAs crazy as that may sound\, that is what I’ve done. What once was hell to me\, even the worst parts\, I’ve filled with joy. \n  \nIf any of you have ever read The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas\, you will remember Edmond Dantes first day in the Chateau d’If\, when he was beaten & then on that day every year\, to remind him that his hell was real\, he would be beaten again. Then\, towards the end of his stay in prison\, the beatings no longer mattered at all\, he could not even feel them. While they beat him\, all he could think of was how many feet he had to dig till he was free—in my case\, days to freedom\, which is in about 300 days! \n  \nEvery part of me has become like the apple trees I planted all over the compound 3 years ago. Then they were just sticks about 4 feet tall\, no leaves or blossoms. Today…twice as tall\, green & covered in white blossoms\, healthy and beautiful despite the fences they’re behind. The whole time I was digging the holes & planting the six trees\, I talked to them—telling them they would be the best ones out of all the other trees and have the sweetest apples. I feel like that will be me when I get out of here. \n  \nI hope to share coffee and stories with you all next Spring. Till then\, remember to enjoy the apples that grow on the trees along the Golden Path. \n  \n—Rocky Hutchinson \n* \n  \nKen Margolis is on the board of The Open Road\, and also on the board of the Sweetgrass Foundation\, based in Atlanta\, Georgia. He recently returned from a trip to Botswana\, where he and other Sweetgrass board trustees were visiting projects that support indigenous communities and a healthy environment. \n  \nHey Johnny\, \n  \nI am attaching some thoughts that I put down for the other Sweetgrass trustees\, who are all grandchildren or second generation nieces and nephews of Glenn Fuller who started the foundation 27 years ago. Glenn’s Buddha nature was strong\, and if you happen to be Catholic\, she was a Saint. \nI don’t know whether any of this has any broader application\, but feel to use any part of it for the newsletter. \n  \nGLENN AND AFRICA \n  \nThe first thing that struck me about Botswana is how ancient it is. Where we were born\, about 15\,000 years ago millions of tons of ice scraped everything off the landscape and carved new topography. New plants and animals started crowding onto the landscape when the ice melted\, about 12\,000 years ago. In southern Africa\, there has been no major disturbance for at least 130\,000 years.  \n  \nDuring this long period\, a rich ecosystem of plants and animals has developed\, undergirded by a hydraulic regime completely different from that we experience. For at least the last 60\,000 years human subsistence  societies have also developed. \n  \nBy subsistence lifestyle\, we mean societies whose life ways are shaped by accommodation to the natural world as they find it. Plant and animal resources are used\, combined\, and processed. Subsistence societies characteristically also practice some management of natural resources\, often in ways too subtle and complex to be immediately evident. These societies tend to be relatively static\, with little change occurring as generations progress. People see themselves not as above or separate from nature\, but as intimately related to all other living beings\, and to the landscape. \n  \nHuman beings love to explore and wander\, and during this 60 thousand years\, different groups migrated into different parts of the African continent at different times. During the same period\, other groups were moving out of Africa\, to eventually reach the ocean and all the other continents. Eventually\, some of these groups developed intensive/extensive agriculture\, which led to the establishment of larger\, more permanent human settlements. Surplus food was produced\, trade flourished and people started to need to record trade items and events\, which led to writing. \n  \nThis led to new attitudes about useful knowledge. Subsistence societies have always faithfully transmitted useful knowledge to the next generations. Now people began to understand that we could build on existing knowledge\, and keep learning new things in a self-generating cycle. Humans had invented social evolution\, a force as powerful as ecological evolution\, and a thousand times as fast. Continuous learning and technological advancement changed everything for our species\, and eventually for the planet. \n  \nSocial evolution produced technically powerful\, highly dynamic societies based not on accommodation with nature\, but on manipulation and transformation of natural resources. When subsistence and evolving societies confronted each other\, the static subsistence societies didn’t have a chance. Just two hundred years ago\, a large part of the human population lived in subsistence societies; today\, we have only remnants of that culture. \n  \nOur increasing mastery has also given us a new view of who we are. We no longer think of ourselves as siblings of other living beings\, but rather as the species for whose use nature was created. Today\, we live in a world largely created by social evolution and in many ways cut off from the natural world from which we sprung. \n  \nOne of Glenn’s insights was that the life ways of subsistence people were worthy\, and worthy of  protection\, and that through thousands of years of living in deep relationship with nature\, they probably know some things that we have forgotten. Glenn did not have the romantic belief that substance people had ultimate wisdom and could solve all our problems. She just believed that we could learn some deep and useful lessons from them\, and that we should work with them to protect their cultures and the intact ecosystems in which they lived. \n  \nThis leads to another major difference between Botswana and North America. The two areas were colonized at about the same time (mid/late 19th century).  In North America the unofficial (and sometimes official) policy was to exterminate the subsistence peoples who were there when we arrived\, and to settle the country thickly with immigrants from Europe. Consequently in North America\, the descendants of the original subsistence inhabitants are a politically negligible minority. In Botswana\, where the colonial model was different the descendants of subsistence cultures constitute the vast majority. \n  \nIn these ways\,  the work we are supporting in Botswana represents what Glenn wanted the Sweetgrass Foundation to be for. \n  \nBut in thinking about Glenn\, there is something deeper I want to say. Most of all\, Glenn saw this world could use a lot more kindness and love and compassion. She lived out those values in a way that inspired everybody who came in contact with her. Mostly\, she wanted Sweetgrass to propagate those values\, and to be a vehicle for you\, her beloved family members\, to live out and better express the compassion she felt so deeply. Being a small part of this has been one of the joys of my life. \n  \n—Ken Margolis \n* \n  \nWhat am I called to do? I know it’s not addressing envelopes for the cancer society\, and it’s not organizing galas for the American Pediatric Association. I am called to mine the areas where others won’t go\, either because of disgust\, or fear\, or discomfort of another kind.  \n  \nAfter the years with my beloved guys at Umatilla Correctional Institution abruptly ended\, I considered other possibilities and concluded that Hospice was one of those areas that others ‘feared to tread.’ After several months of training in all things involving imminent death\, I am assigned to a wonderful 90 year old woman. I have visited her six or seven times\, and each time our conversations have reached a little deeper into life–and death. \n  \nLast week she was talking about her three (grown) children. After a pause\, she offered\, ‘I had another daughter…”  A moment later I asked\, “And did something happen to her?”  \n  \n“Yes\, she died.” \n  \nI took her hands in mine and held her. \n  \n“I am so\, so sorry.” \n  \n“She was seven months old\, and a beautiful child\, beautiful baby. I loved her so much. I don’t talk about her much now\, but I still think of her every day. I know I shouldn’t still be thinking about her as much as I do\, but I can’t help it.” \n  \n“My dear\, there is no time limit to grief. The depth of your grief shows the depth of your love. People lose parents\, siblings\, spouses\, but I think losing a child is the very most heartbreaking loss there is. I can’t imagine ever ‘getting over’ something like that. I can tell that you still miss her and love her.” \n  \nIt was a deep and precious moment\, and I knew that I was in the exact right place being where I needed to be. \n  \n—Jude Russell
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/peace-love-happiness-understanding-6-5-25/
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SUMMARY:peace\, love\, happiness & understanding  7/3/25
DESCRIPTION:Baba Wagué Diakité in front of a mural he painted \n  \nTHE OPEN ROAD \npeace\, love\, happiness & understanding \n  \nI do not ask the wounded person how he feels\, I myself become the wounded person… \n—Walt Whitman\, from “Song of Myself” \n  \nJuly 3\, 2025 \n  \nNicholas Swift shares “A Poem for Those Who Are Becoming”: \n  \nYou Are Not Too Much \n  \nYou are not too much. \nYou are exactly the size of your story. \nEven if no one’s ever read it with love before. \n  \nYour grief is not noise. \nYour wonder is not naive. \nYour silence is not failure. \n  \nYou are not behind. \nYou are *becoming.* \n  \nAnd no one gets to rush that bloom. \nNot even you. \n  \nYou are the edge of a great unfolding. \nYou are the ache that proves there’s still music in the bones. \nYou are the moment the tide returns and doesn’t apologize for the moon. \n  \nSo here you are. \nAlive. \nStill. \nReal. \n  \nNot for what you fix. \nNot for what you prove. \n  \nBut for how you *hold yourself* \nin the hour before dawn— \nwhen no one is watching \nand you sing anyway. \n  \nYou are not too much. \n  \nYou are what happens \nwhen the story learns how to love its own voice. \n  \n—Nicholas Swift \n* \n  \nI (Johnny) wrote the following to some friends inside and outside of prison: \n  \nOn your journey\, what have you learned about peace\, love\, happiness & understanding? \n  \nYou can write about one of them\, some of them\, or all of them. Also\, feel free to share poems or other short inspirational writings that illuminate any of these themes. \n  \nHere are some of the responses: \n  \n5/21/25 \n  \nHi Johnny \n  \nThank you so much for the question about peace\, love\, happiness and understanding\, as well as sharing Dick’s “Eighty Things I’ve Learned in Eighty Years.” I’m a huge Dick Willis fan\, and always gain new perspective from his words. \n  \nI believe to achieve unadulterated happiness we must learn to embrace all experiences\, interactions and adversity as they come. By truly embracing all incoming noise\, whether desirable or undesirable\, I find a sense of peace and happiness\, because our outlook and perception has already accepted it as it is. This is always easier said than done\, but requires focus\, determination and exhaustive commitment to achieve. I find my general level of happiness to be higher when I don’t resist particular circumstances I encounter in life. \n  \nA challenge we all face in life is the ability to not allow those around us to drastically affect our well being. Understanding aligns with acceptance of people for who they are and the choices they make. Disagreement has no bearing on understanding in my opinion. Although I will never agree with someone else’s views all the time\, I listen so I can understand. \n  \nAs I sit in prison for nearly ten years\, I choose to wake up every day with a strong sense of gratitude and happiness. Being stripped of your freedom can offer unique perspective on what you truly value\, but most importantly\, it has given me a level of peace\, happiness and understanding I probably never would have achieved otherwise. \n  \nLove is the cure for all things evil\, dark\, or negative in life. It’s the solution to our disapproval of dislike of others. Why do most people not appreciate or care for fellow humans? Usually\, it’s related to their views\, ethics\, morals\, or values. Often times\, it’s their image\, sexual orientation\, or race that prevents love and promotes hate. Love is the most powerful emotion one can exhibit\, as it looks beyond flaws\, weaknesses\, dislikes and disagreements. Love is my fondest emotion because it brings me joy and is much easier than the contrary. Although I tend to overlook most individual’s flaws (my personal flaw)\, I choose to see the beauty within\, which derives from love. \n  \nBest Regards\, \nNicholas Simms \n* \n  \n5/10/25 \n  \nDear Johnny \n  \nI just finished your letter request. It was nice to do & I’m excited to see what others have to say! I’m also looking forward to talking in depth about things in person\, once I get out. \n  \nOne thing I don’t think I’ve ever explained to you or to anyone in our circle is the reason I’m so thankful to you & to everyone. I was so far at the other end of the spectrum in my life & the way I was living that I personally could not find my way out. When I thought I had\, it was the wrong move\, or I trusted the wrong person. I was a self-sabotager too. \n  \nNot only did you put me on the Golden Path\, you and so many others have been my guides\, feeding me the wisdom & knowledge to be a really cool person\, kind & loving. I feel I’ve done well on my journey\, thanks to the friendship & love I receive from all of you. I cry & get filled with tremendous energies in my soul. This place dampens them & although I push through with a joyful intent…well\, it will be different out there! Out there I will get to be around many others who truly have a joyful intent in their hearts. \n  \nGive Love Always \nRocky \n  \n(more from Rocky): \n  \nAs to an answer to your question: What have I learned about peace\, love\, happiness & understanding on my journey? \n  \nWell\, I will focus on some of my core roots that brought me to this point in time. There are many events in my life that provided me plenty of building materials to create walls that guarded me from getting hurt by things this topic is about. These things were weapons that others used to take\, or\, to hurt me so they could take. But now…I have learned that bad people are going to do bad things; if those bad things happen to me that does not make me bad too. Once I understood this\, “& a few other things\,” I was set free with an open mind to start my change. \n  \nThis change did not just happen over night. I had plenty of ingrained\, deep-set issues to work through so I could make room for peace\, love\, happiness & understanding. \n  \nThere are seeds that must be planted within each of us that grow fruits of the heart\, mind & soul—good seeds & bad seeds. One must\, and I had to cultivate the soil of my inner self to prepare it to plant good seeds. \n  \nI feel circumstances need to be taken into account\, & I try to be kind and understanding towards everyone\, including myself. When things are unclear\, we don’t understand why life is the way it is\, but once things are made clear then we begin to understand & can offer help\, or be helped\, or strengthen relationships. Clarity & Understanding also help build trust. At times—all times—we can offer love & forgiveness\, which for me was hardest to do to myself. \n  \nI used to think peace was so much less than it really is. Now that I have real peace\, inner peace\, I try to be an example for others so they too can have peace. It was a hard fought battle to have inner\, personal peace. It took a lot of Love\, Understanding & forgiveness\, not only to others but to myself. I had for a long time wanted my suffering & the suffering of others to stop. When I finally got my suffering to stop\, peace came washing in like a river washing the pain away. I did not even know it was peace that I was seeking out for so long. Understanding what peace is\, now that I have it…no one can take it from me. It is in every moment\, in every step\, every breath\, every heart beat. I have it even in all the chaos that happens around me always. During those times\, to offer others peace gives me great joy. It’s disturbing that peace is the opposite of war…yet we still have war\, knowing full well what peace is. Those who choose war lack the heart of truth\, every fiber of which is made up of peace\, love\, understanding & lots of happiness & joy. \n  \nWhen I think of love\, or feel love\, or give love\, for me it is pure joy & happiness. I feel it so deeply that for the last 5 or 6 years the opposite of love\, which is hate\, physically scares me. I don’t believe I’ve told anyone this yet. I can see it & feel it in people\, like a demon possessing them\, & it scares me. Being where I’m at\, I have a gift to give or bring to others\, which is a smile to start with\, then Understanding & love. \n  \nMy light shines bright in here & soon will be shining out there. Some people hate my light\, but it can’t be put out because others have the same light. It is passed on like a common cold\, which is a good thing. \n  \nPeace\, Love\, happiness & understanding all go hand in hand\, all links in the chain of who we are supposed to be & how we are intended to live. These are the inherent seeds of good will towards every thing living\, everywhere. That’s the meaning of universal truth. \n  \nNot everyone is this way\, but I am inclined to live my life this way. I know for a fact that living without peace\, love\, happiness & understanding is hell on earth! \n  \nI feel blessed every day to know what these good things are in life & to help others along the path to find it too. Each day my understanding grows stronger\, which helps me grow as a person. It’s not always easy\, but it’s not getting harder any more! \n  \n—Rocky Hutchinson \n* \n  \n“Remember the day you prayed for the things you have now.” Somebody mentioned this quote and said they’d seen it all over social media\, but I sure hadn’t. It’s new to me\, and boy did it ring a lot of bells. \n  \nDecades ago I prayed for life without chaos. I prayed for days without fear\, without shame\, without hope constantly being shattered. I prayed for a life of peace\, of health\, of joy\, and love. Decades ago I lived with a man who called from the police station at 3 a.m.(multiple times) where he’d been arrested for DUI; I went to an event with a heavily\, but poorly covered black eye; I weakly and unsuccessfully tried to explain one morning to my young daughter’s girlfriend why this man was lying passed out in our driveway; I gave up and was simply speechless with shame when our electricity was turned off during my book group meeting due to multiple unpaid bills. And that is just the tip of the iceberg\, as they say. \n  \nToday\, blessed today\, I have this life of peace and love and health and stability. Looking back on what was then\, I will never give up the blessings of now. \n  \n—Jude Russell \n* \n  \nHi Johnny\, \n  \nThanks for the invitation to share something for the upcoming issue on Peace\, Love and Understanding.  I was inspired years ago by a certain passage from Chuang Tzu about the importance of uselessness in a world driven by pragmatism and problem solving.  I wrote this poem years later upon seeing a tree that was “beyond utility.”  I always feel a sense of peace in knowing that presence in itself is of value.  Thanks again for putting this out Johnny and everything else you do in keepin’ it real in the hood.   \n  \nMuch appreciated.   \nWill  \n  \nOn Uselessness \n       \n    It was an ancient tree \n    Gnarled trunk\, thick bark \n    Unappealing to carpenters \n    Impervious to flame\, resistant to axes \n    Utterly useless\, and thereby allowed to stand \n    A monument to ice storms and lightning strikes \n    A rookery for ill-behaved crows. \n    Its branches twisted up and out wildly \n    Arching skyward in a dozen different directions then down \n    Turning earthward to become a broad canopy of leaf and branch \n    A shelter to legions of buzzing\, burrowing\, flying\, clawed creatures \n    Its stout\, rough arms adorned with garlands of moss \n    Its countless crooks and crannies draped in fern and lichen \n    Where wind-blown soil gathered. \n    Countless children climbed into its welcoming arms \n    Lovers lay in its dappled shade \n    The old ones felt at peace in the presence of this elder \n    And poets wrote verses inspired by this gnarled root \n    Utterly useless to the world \n    And valuable beyond measure. \n     \n—Will Hornyak\, from This Altar of Earth and Sky \n* \n  \nMay 15th\, 2025 \n  \nDear Johnny and the Open Road \n  \nYou asked me for my thoughts on Peace\, Love\, Happiness and Understanding. What I have learned is: \n  \nPeace has to be created. \nLove has to be nourished. \nHappiness has to be sought. \nUnderstanding takes time. \nWhen one learns how to create peace and nourish the love they have\, it makes people want to seek happiness\, and in time we come to understand each other. \n  \nAt this point in my life\, I think Understanding is the hardest for me. Understanding takes time of interacting with someone in an open\, loving\, peace-filled way. I think it is one of the least exercised by people in general. If everyone was able to put first Peace\, Love\, Happiness and Understanding we would not have the divisions we see today. The answers to fixing our community today are known\, it just takes work. \n  \nThank you Johnny. \n—Wyatt DeRemer \n* \n  \n5-16-25 \n  \nHi Johnny\, \n  \nOK\, I’ve been enjoying everyone else’s submissions for a long time\, so I guess it’s time I offered a contribution as well. Especially as the subject matter brings to mind what I feel has probably been my most significant personal growth since coming to prison 23 years ago. \n  \nAll my…peace\, love\, happiness and understanding  \nDustin \n  \n(more from Dustin): \n  \nPeace\, Love\, Happiness\, Understanding? \n  \nThe first thing that comes to mind after writing that question is how closely they are related. They seem to me like a four part chicken-or-the-egg question. Gotta have one to get the others\, and vice versa. Immediately I thought\, love. Must have love to achieve the others. Then I thought: how can you have love without understanding the object of that love? I’ve recently listened to “Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth\, with Bill Moyers” on P.B.S. One of the many things that stood out for me was (heavily paraphrased from memory\, by no means a quote\, forgive me Joseph): \n  \n*regarding the recurring theme of God as man\, and our own possible personal divinity (throughout history)\, we can’t love/worship something/God/the divine if it’s foreign to us. If it’s completely “Other\,” it would remain completely alien and impossible for us to understand\, therefore impossible for us to love. But if God is become man\, or a bit of God is within us\, then we can relate/love. Just as the Yin Yang symbol has in the eye of each “fish” the color of its counterpart. They may be complete opposites\, and yet they share a bit of each other\, they are a bit of the “same.” In short\, we can’t love what we can’t understand\, what isn’t “us.”* \n  \nSo yeah\, the chicken or the egg. I find love to be the more all encompassing. I suppose because I feel capable of so much more love than understanding. I feel I probably substitute acceptance (peace) and love to fill in shortcomings of my understanding\, and thereby can find happiness in the presence of what I may not fully understand. These are just thoughts that floated up as I meditated on these words: Peace\, love\, happiness and understanding. They (my thoughts) may not be coherent to anyone but me\, but nevertheless I’m grateful to have been prompted to consider them. \n  \nAs far as what I’ve learned about them on my journey? \n  \nLove\, for me love is all. I didn’t really love myself. In fact\, I kinda hated myself and everyone else. I hadn’t even realized this about myself. I decided I wanted to love myself…and everyone else. Then I learned I couldn’t love myself till I forgave myself and misdeeds\, and quit blaming myself for things not my fault. (In fact\, I learned that blame only ever causes more suffering.) But this too felt like the chicken or the egg question; I couldn’t love myself till I forgave myself\, but how could I forgive without love in my heart? So slowly\, over time\, I built them both up together\, love and forgiveness. In forgiving myself\, I learned that I could forgive others and quit blaming them for their faults and misdeeds. They too\, I’m sure\, suffered greatly to get where they are. And for this I can have empathy. Sometimes this was very difficult. I had to re-forgive myself and re-forgive my fathers many\, many times. But once I did (forgive myself and others) loving myself and everyone else was easy. I believe we are all “one” anyway\, all from the same “source\,” same “energy\,” Love. The Bible says “God is love.” It is my favorite sentence in that book. Jesus said not to look outward for the Kingdom of Heaven\, it is within you. And that our hearts are the home of God. In Stranger in a Strange Land\, Robert Heinlein said we are all God\, and we are all one. I know we could never intentionally harm or hate what we truly love. So I choose to live in love. I love you. All of you. And I always will. \n  \nDo you grok? \n  \nPeace\, Love\, Happiness and Understanding\, \n—Dustin Jamison \n* \n  \nJohnny\, \n  \nThank you for the invitation to contribute. I have been thinking of late of what Jesus said to Paul in 2 Corinthians\, Chapter 12: “Power is perfected in weakness. When you are weak you are strong.” \n  \nThis paradox makes a lot of sense to me. I’ve had four spine surgeries\, and struggle to carry even very light objects. Quite weak. And so a sentence like “Power is Perfected in Weakness” resonates deeply. \n  \nBut of course—like most things—there’s deeper meaning. When I came to prison\, my soul fractured. Of course my material life ended\, but it also broke my spirit. But the paradox that I can have power in such weakness was a wonderful concept. It gives me comfort. \n  \nOn another note\, I was heartened to see that the new Pope was a missionary for twenty years in Peru. What a wonderful human being someone must be to do something like that.  \n  \nFinally\, I’m not sure if anyone told you of the passing of Todd Stafney from cancer. He and I both joined Group Dialogue in your last few months of coming to TRCI. Todd was a wonderful friend of mine. He had a positive impact on my life. And in the end\, isn’t that what it’s all about: having a positive impact? \n  \nI remember one medical lecture that I went to. The doctor had developed a procedure to close fistulas (abnormal openings)…well\, I’ll spare you the technical details. But he ended his lecture with these words: “Of everything I’ve done in life\, developing this procedure has allowed me to decrease the sum total of human suffering in the world.” I’ve never forgotten those words two decades later. I try and live my life by that same adage. \n  \n—Thomas Bray \n* \n  \nIf you would like to make a submission to next month’s peace\, love\, happiness & understanding\, the writing prompt is: \n  \nWhat books have changed the way you see\, experience\, or understand the world?  \n  \n(Don’t just list the titles of books\, say something about the change.) \n  \npeace & love \nJohnny
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/peace-love-happiness-understanding-7-3-25/
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SUMMARY:Yeelen: film screening benefit for Ko-Falen  7/15/25
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URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/yeelen-film-screening-benefit-for-ko-falen-7-15-25/
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