For my children's children.
Consider the UN Declaration of Human Rights...
First thought to share:
The systems upon which our civilization is dependent are broken. We need improved systems, not improved people.
What do you want to keep, and what should be tossed out?
I seriously encourage everyone to start envisioning a new system of life on this earth!
Second thought I want to share:
I haven't been giving my blogs to anyone I'm related to. All my children and their children aren't interested in them. Same for my ancestry information.
So what's the purpose?
You, who are reading this are somehow affiliated with me As blog friends.
What can I give the people I love most? What do they want from me?
Third thought:
I've a zillion journals, which I thought I'd write into an interesting book someday when I retired. I'm slowly throwing them away, because they are quite boring actually!
I've a zillion journals, which I thought I'd write into an interesting book someday when I retired. I'm slowly throwing them away, because they are quite boring actually!
Is there anything in my life worth writing about for the "Life of Barbara?"
Obviously these are rhetorical questions.
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I read Keith Kron's newsletters (free at Keith Kron What Really Matters) daily. Last Wednesday he shared about the situations of hypocrisy from parents to children, and from leaders to their constituents. Here are his concluding paragraphs.
I read Keith Kron's newsletters (free at Keith Kron What Really Matters) daily. Last Wednesday he shared about the situations of hypocrisy from parents to children, and from leaders to their constituents. Here are his concluding paragraphs.
Perhaps instead of thinking about wanting to go back to the way things were, we need to think about who we want to be collectively. Maybe we should start doing that now. And perhaps with the caveat of “And not at the expense of someone else.” Minnesota is teaching us that now. Will the leaders learn from it? |
Buddhist Walk for Peace - they will be staying at George Washington U - where my granddaughter, Caroline is a student! I hope she gets to see them sometime!
Confirmed Schedule (Updated February 6, 2026 | All times EST)
Monday, February 9 (Day 107)
• Night Rest Stop: Marymount University (Private Event)
Tuesday, February 10 (Day 108)
• 7:00 AM: Walk begins
• 9:30–10:45 AM: Public Event at Bender Arena
• Lunch Stop: National United Methodist Church (Invitees only)
• 1:00–2:30 PM: Interfaith Ceremony at Washington National Cathedral
• 2:30 PM: Unity Walk on Embassy Row
• Night Stop: George Washington University (Public Event)
Wednesday, February 11 (Day 109)
• 9:30 AM: Walk to Peace Monument / Capitol Hill begins
• Lunch Stop: St. Mark’s Capitol Hill Church (Invitees only)
• 1:30 PM: Walk to Lincoln Memorial begins
• 2:30–4:00 PM: Peace Gathering and Concluding Ceremony at Lincoln Memorial
• 4:30–7:30 PM: Meditation Session with Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara
(George Washington University Smith Center)
Thursday, February 12 (Day 110)
• 9:00 AM: Walk for Peace continues in Maryland
(Starting from Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium)
• 10:00–10:45 AM: Peace Gathering at the steps of the Maryland State Capitol
• 12:30 PM: Departure for Fort Worth, Texas
We also warmly invite venerable monks and nuns from all traditions to join us during these days. Those who are able to attend are kindly requested to register through our website so we may prepare with care and respect.
Many events will be livestreamed on our Facebook page so everyone can join in spirit from anywhere in the world.
Daily route updates and journey progress will continue to be shared. Please check the Live Map pinned at the top of our page for near real-time tracking. Nightly updates for the following day will remain available on both our Facebook page and website.We look forward to welcoming you with open hearts. Your presence—near or far—is a blessing and a gift to this journey.
May you and all beings be well, happy and at peace. 
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And don't forget we have just this one earth upon which we all live, and need to care for!
...former Unilever CEO Paul Polman, said, “We know what needs to be done [about climate change]. It is not a failure of resources. Global capital has never been more abundant. It is a failure of collaboration and collective action. A failure of governments to align around shared interests rather than narrow advantage; of businesses to act as system-shapers rather than short-term competitors; and of leaders across sectors to share risk, and act in service of a common good.”
Thanks Katharine Hayhoe
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The attraction between those who have differences. Isn't LOVE great!
Sad that your family has no interest now. Too many find that interest too late.
ReplyDeleteBut it still is valuable research that someone in or linked to your family will value
Hopefully someone with an interest in social history would be intersted in your journals.
Thanks for your hopeful ideas. I guess they are possible.
DeleteBloggers blog and check other blogs. Family and friends don’t. Maybe they will someday when their lives slow down.
ReplyDeleteOK, I guess I need to accept the differences. Always the hardest part of learning wisdom to know the difference (like what I can and cannot change.)
Delete...Sojourner Truth's still ring true. Words to remember!
ReplyDeleteYes, work with our own light against the darkness.
DeleteHm, good question:
ReplyDeleteWhat DO the people you love most want from you?
Do you know?
I like this question I hear these days;
How to be a good ancestor?
I don’t have children, but I’ve long thought I should edit my blog down to a selection of the best posts.
(As you say, a lot of the daily stuff is not particularly interesting, once the moment has passed.)
Is that something that might be good to pass on?
PS. Oh, rereading your post, I see you say that was a rhetorical question. Sorry, I responded as if you meant it literally.
DeleteLaughing...I do appreciate your considerate answers though. And How to be a good ancestor kind of started this chain of thought. The one that I hope you'll think about more is what kind of world do you want to see in the future? Leadership, society, economics, government?
DeleteI think blogging is a closed system -- most of our readers are probably bloggers, visiting back and forth. I doubt if my rl friends ever bother. And I know my son doesn't. But that's okay. Our audience is selective.
ReplyDeleteI am learning to accept that this is a closed society. But it sure does have some talent within it to be shared.
DeleteYesterday as I was watching children play basketball and then soccer with parents cheering and little almost-still-toddlers learning to kick a ball without falling over, their joy in the game, the effort, the way their bodies were moving, I wondered if their children will have the same chances, be able to make the same choices to just be children doing what children do without fear.
ReplyDeleteI hope so. I hope so.
Me too...I've had similar awe-struck hopes seeing the figure skating in the Olympics...the only part that I like, besides the opening ceremonies. Seeing those athletic young people (mostly) and how they can move so easily (a bit of jealousy here!) I want so much to let them grow in a better world than we currently have.
DeleteI hope my grandchildren can enjoy a happy and peaceful life.
ReplyDeleteIt is scary what is happening now.
Take care, have a wonderful week!
Excellent ideas for your grands.
DeleteI was never any good at keeping a diary for very long at a time - and I haven't saved the attempts I made. Earlier in life, before the Internet, I used to write a lot of letters - I guess it's up to the receivers if any were saved. I have no children or even nieces or nephews to pass anything on to, so thinking I should probably try to get rid of anything I don't want to leave behind to strangers. As my blogs were written for strangers in the first place, though, I don't mind if they survive me. (As for my ancestry blog, I rather hope it does.) My brother knows my blogs exist and probably checks in occasionally; but not regularly. Very few of my Swedish friends know that I blog at all. (The only Swedish friend who I know reads it now and then lives abroad...)
ReplyDeleteI was aghast when my ex husband sent me back letters I'd written him from when he was stationed in Alaska, and I was still in college. It's hard to believe I was so flippant. Of course he may still think of me that way, because divorce in the 70s included my becoming a feminist. He's a nice guy, and was a stable father to our kids, but we certainly didn't mesh.
DeleteMy recent health scare has made me think it's time to cull my personal papers.
ReplyDeleteMy children tolerate my political activities and posts. They don't participate. No one in my family has ever asked to read my blogs.
Oh yes, it's always a good time to make some changes. I'm great at thinking of what I should do, and never doing it. I asked my son to ask his 3 daughters what they might want from me. It should be interesting what those conversations bring up.
DeleteI have so much stuff from my family that I have enjoyed reading over--and have shared some on my blog--but I doubt my boys will be interested. I've never kept a journal beyond a few page--my blog is as close to a journal as I get and I don't share the really personal stuff. Time to go through all the ephemera nad severely edit!
ReplyDeleteI think my aim is to make some decisions before the decisions are left to those who clean out my life's stuff after I'm gone. I am aware how many papers will just be thrown in a box and taken to the dump. So I should do some of that myself. Now there's also the "does it still bring you joy?" method of deciding what to get rid of.
Delete