Giving peace a chance
What will you do to help make peace?
This question was posed to the audience as London Public Library celebrated the United Nations' International Day of Peace last Monday at Central Library.
The library commemorated the day with the showing of The Day After Peace, by filmmaker and Day of Peace founder, Jeremy Gilley.
“The documentary is what this day is about,” said Datri Yeo of The Happy Monks, who led the audience in a guided meditation after the showing. “(His) trials and tribulations to get countries to lay down their guns. It's very inspiring.”
The event also featured footage of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's bed protest, sent to the library by Ono, who quickly replied to a request by Ruth Ram, a library assistant at Central.
Ono also sent postcards to be filled out with wishes by those in attendance. They would be shipped to her Imagine Peace Tower — a light tower powered geothermally and visible from space — in Iceland where they would become a part of the structure.
This is the third year that the London Public Library has celebrated the day, and the goal is to expand it, said Yeo. Collaborating with more organizations to create events, holding it in a bigger venue like a park, and getting politicians involved are all possibilities, she said.
“Keep making it grow every year, get more and more people interested,” added Ram.
Even with the current economic climate and the world's multiple conflicts, Yeo still believes there is a shift happening with people realizing there needs to be change, she said.
“I find it exciting. People are gathering in all different ways and places,” she said. “The state of world affairs — people are afraid and they know there's no such thing as security so they're drawn to something bigger.”
But ultimately, the journey for peace begins with you, she said.
“How we treat people — that's where it starts.”
For more information on the UN International Day of Peace, http://internationaldayofpeace.org or Jeremy Gilley, http://peaceoneday.org; and for more information on the Happy Monks http://thehappymonks.com.
This question was posed to the audience as London Public Library celebrated the United Nations' International Day of Peace last Monday at Central Library.
The library commemorated the day with the showing of The Day After Peace, by filmmaker and Day of Peace founder, Jeremy Gilley.
“The documentary is what this day is about,” said Datri Yeo of The Happy Monks, who led the audience in a guided meditation after the showing. “(His) trials and tribulations to get countries to lay down their guns. It's very inspiring.”
The event also featured footage of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's bed protest, sent to the library by Ono, who quickly replied to a request by Ruth Ram, a library assistant at Central.
Ono also sent postcards to be filled out with wishes by those in attendance. They would be shipped to her Imagine Peace Tower — a light tower powered geothermally and visible from space — in Iceland where they would become a part of the structure.
This is the third year that the London Public Library has celebrated the day, and the goal is to expand it, said Yeo. Collaborating with more organizations to create events, holding it in a bigger venue like a park, and getting politicians involved are all possibilities, she said.
“Keep making it grow every year, get more and more people interested,” added Ram.
Even with the current economic climate and the world's multiple conflicts, Yeo still believes there is a shift happening with people realizing there needs to be change, she said.
“I find it exciting. People are gathering in all different ways and places,” she said. “The state of world affairs — people are afraid and they know there's no such thing as security so they're drawn to something bigger.”
But ultimately, the journey for peace begins with you, she said.
“How we treat people — that's where it starts.”
For more information on the UN International Day of Peace, http://internationaldayofpeace.org or Jeremy Gilley, http://peaceoneday.org; and for more information on the Happy Monks http://thehappymonks.com.
