Hello friends, I’m glad you found me!

Because I grew up in a home where I didn’t feel safe, I have spent my life trying to figure out how to build peace around me.

Everywhere I went, people were skeptical. They didn’t believe peace was possible. Even the Director of the Rotary Peace Fellowship program at my graduate school would tell us that peace is an illusion. He believed political actors were always preparing for war.

In the lead-up to the 2020 Presidential election, I spotted the same signs of potential violence in my own country that I had seen abroad as an American diplomat. So, despite feeling overwhelmed as a single working mom during the pandemic, I felt a strong urge to do something to mitigate the tensions.

When my own family members in rural Pennsylvania were promoting anti-government violence, I organized a community training in nonviolent communication to help de-escalate tensions. I volunteered as a poll worker for the 2020 election. In the wake of the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, I wrote my first opinion article urging Americans to stay in dialogue despite our differences. Most importantly, I spent countless hours healing the traumas of my own life and finding a deep sense of peace within myself.

That’s when I realized that we all have a critical role to play in building peaceful societies. We can’t wait for other people to do the peace building work for us – including politicians and political parties. We all have the power to take action, and we must. It doesn’t have to be difficult or overwhelming. We can start by healing ourselves, loving each other better despite our differences, and promoting peace in small ways. We can also serve our communities as neighbors and volunteer in local organizations.

If we all get involved in these personal and local ways, those things will eventually add up to broader social change. It will take a critical mass of Americans doing these things to shift our social norms toward universal love, but I believe we can do it. I hope you believe it too.

Speaking of beliefs, here is my favorite quote from the writings of the Baha’i Faith:

“World peace is not only possible but inevitable. It is the next stage in the evolution of this planet. Whether peace is to be reached only after unimaginable horrors precipitated by humanity’s stubborn clinging to old patterns of behavior, or is to be embraced now by an act of consultative will, is the choice before all who inhabit the earth.”

Peace is possible, friends, but we must take action to bring it to life. Let’s build a more peaceful society together. Let’s do it for our kids and beyond.

With loving kindness for all,
Danielle