Peace by Piece

Friday, February 17 marked the UPEACE second open mic night.  UPEACE provides an incredibly supportive environment which makes this event truly successful.  Since promoting happiness and laughter is a part of my personal mission statement,  I decided that I would put together a stand up routine.    I was nervous and really unsure of what I would say.  As the night became closer, I was more excited than nervous because I realized that whatever happened, my community would support me.  Wouldn't it be nice if we could all go out on a limb and try something new because we lived in a safe place?  Having a supportive community allows for creativity.  When we have support, we are more likely to take risks. "Progress always involves risks. You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first."  Frederick Wilcox "Go out on a limb. That's where the fruit is."   Jimmy Carter It was fun AND I got a lot of positive feedback.  I am definitely an amateur bu

I n Telluride, Colorado, the town I was lucky enough to have lived in for seven years, you see bumper stickers proclaiming: "Come for the winter, stay for the summer" or "Come for the winter, stay for the library".  These are fun and have some truth to them but I believe that a bigger broader statement can be made: "Come for the skiing, stay for the community".  Telluride is blessed with all kinds of wealth.  It is an incomparably beautiful mountain town where you can walk to ski lifts, waterfalls and to amazing high alpine hikes and climbs.  It combines the majestic mountains with inspirational festivals such as Mountain Film, Yoga Festival, and the Compassion Festival.  Peaceful, fun, sustainable communities are built upon music such as bluegrass, jazz and blues and then dispersed without a trace.  It is a place of many wonders but most special about Telluride is the community that not only hosts these events and is the steward of natural

After winning the Republican primary in Florida, Mitt Romney said that he is not worried about the poor because they have a safety net and he's not worried about the wealthy because they are doing just fine but he is worried about the middle class and wants to help them maintain employment.  Can you think of another way to say this?  What is Mitt Romney really saying?  Here is what I heard: I want to maintain the status quo. So, what has created the 'status quo' anyway?  What drives us?  America, whether you like it or not, is driven by money.  How do we measure our success?  Well, not so long ago congress decided we would measure our success as a nation by the Gross Domestic Product.  Now, you may be a person that watches the stock market and you may be a person that looks at the GDP to see how the economy is doing, but what do you really know about the GDP? In case you need to brush up on your economics, here is how the GDP is calculated: consumer spending + governm