THE LIVING MIRROR PRACTICE & PLAYBOOK
Creative Reflections for Peace
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About
The Living Mirror Creative Practice of Peace
As one who's always cared deeply about the world, and been committed to contributing to the creation of Peace on Earth, the biggest challenge I have found has been unground: the utter hopelessness that's come from the realization that I haven't always walked the talk.
The gap between the world I've advocated for and my own daily patterns has left me feeling unworthy of the world that I've sought to create, and despairing of what's possible: How can I ever believe that others will change if I, myself, stay the same?
Fortunately, I know that I'm not alone in the shame and confusion that comes from seeing the space between where we actually are and where we wish we could be. My life has granted me back-stage access to many community leaders who's perfect public image of peace is far from the private wars that they're waging within.
At first it was disillusioning to see that those I admired so deeply didn't quite live up to their image. But, ultimately, I was no different. As an activist, I admit that I often hid my own pitfalls under the righteous fist of telling others how they could be better. I was a workaholic as a full-time public school teacher, volunteer, and community organizer. When I wasn't working, serving, or protesting, I was drinking. Indeed, addiction is common amongst those who care.
Unsurprisingly, the pressure began to take its toll through severe insomnia, anxiety, IBS, and depression. My immune system was shot (I got the swine flue TWICE!), and ultimately the crisis screamed: How on Earth are you going to make Peace if you're still so fully at war within? How can you heal others, if you're still ignoring your own healing?
The message was halting.
I quit my job, stopped all activism, and began a pilgrimage of peace -from the inside out.
No doubt, there's been infinite obstacles on the path that have made me more compassionate than ever for the human condition, and the special challenges that we face in our world today. I've come to see that the gap between our ideal and our lived reality is not a sign of hypocrisy, but an inherent tension that comes with caring to create something spectacular.
Indeed, we all have blind spots in which the places we most need to grow are the most illusive. But, ironically, those are the things that are easiest to see in others. No doubt: humility is vulnerable. It's scary, even terrifying, to admit that we don't always live up to our own standard. The contempt that we have for others is a direct reflection of our own lack of self-compassion, which challenges us to face where we're still learning love ourselves.
The Living Mirror Practice of Creative Reflection offers us a path that makes the revelation of blind spots not only safe for us to grow, but safe for us to grow -together. By seeing the mirror in everything, and committing to love it (no matter what), we open doors of awareness that make it possible for us to realize ourselves as one, and to share that peace with the confidence that comes by growing it within.
The gap between the world I've advocated for and my own daily patterns has left me feeling unworthy of the world that I've sought to create, and despairing of what's possible: How can I ever believe that others will change if I, myself, stay the same?
Fortunately, I know that I'm not alone in the shame and confusion that comes from seeing the space between where we actually are and where we wish we could be. My life has granted me back-stage access to many community leaders who's perfect public image of peace is far from the private wars that they're waging within.
At first it was disillusioning to see that those I admired so deeply didn't quite live up to their image. But, ultimately, I was no different. As an activist, I admit that I often hid my own pitfalls under the righteous fist of telling others how they could be better. I was a workaholic as a full-time public school teacher, volunteer, and community organizer. When I wasn't working, serving, or protesting, I was drinking. Indeed, addiction is common amongst those who care.
Unsurprisingly, the pressure began to take its toll through severe insomnia, anxiety, IBS, and depression. My immune system was shot (I got the swine flue TWICE!), and ultimately the crisis screamed: How on Earth are you going to make Peace if you're still so fully at war within? How can you heal others, if you're still ignoring your own healing?
The message was halting.
I quit my job, stopped all activism, and began a pilgrimage of peace -from the inside out.
No doubt, there's been infinite obstacles on the path that have made me more compassionate than ever for the human condition, and the special challenges that we face in our world today. I've come to see that the gap between our ideal and our lived reality is not a sign of hypocrisy, but an inherent tension that comes with caring to create something spectacular.
Indeed, we all have blind spots in which the places we most need to grow are the most illusive. But, ironically, those are the things that are easiest to see in others. No doubt: humility is vulnerable. It's scary, even terrifying, to admit that we don't always live up to our own standard. The contempt that we have for others is a direct reflection of our own lack of self-compassion, which challenges us to face where we're still learning love ourselves.
The Living Mirror Practice of Creative Reflection offers us a path that makes the revelation of blind spots not only safe for us to grow, but safe for us to grow -together. By seeing the mirror in everything, and committing to love it (no matter what), we open doors of awareness that make it possible for us to realize ourselves as one, and to share that peace with the confidence that comes by growing it within.
BOOK COMING SOON!
"In a world of doom scrolling and parroting other people's
opinions, we've become deaf to our own. That practice will help people return to the sound of their voice, thoughts, and lenses...
This journal works. It’s interactive and the exercises are actually interesting.
I learned about myself [and it] ushered in a deeper gratitude for the things around me and within me." -Jasmine Farrell, author
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