The Freedom From Want


 Norman Rockwell's "Freedom from Want"


Slow moving today... Adjusting from the holiday weekend. 


Speaking of, I hope you and yours had a very nice holiday!? 

I sure did!

It turned out to be a distinct contrast from last year's, which was non-existent for my side of the family. 

This year's Thanksgiving was what I'd call a "Norman Rockwell's" Holiday... 

It was perfect, picturesque. 

I couldn't really ask for anything more... Wow!

I hope yours was the same!

Norman Rockwell's Secret...

Well, to be honest, it wasn't really a secret, it was at one time quite public. Now it's simply not known to most. 

The Rockwell picture at the top of this email called "Freedom From Want." 

The painting shows an aproned matriarch presenting a roasted turkey to a family of several generations, in Rockwell's idealistic presentation of family values. 

is the third in a series of four oil paintings entitled Four Freedoms. They were inspired by Franklin D. Roosevelt's State of the Union Address, known by the same name (Four Freedoms). 

The address was delivered to the 77th United States Congress on January 6, 1941.

In the early 1940s, Roosevelt's Four Freedoms themes were by the government to help boost patriotism. This theme was eventually incorporated into the Atlantic Charter, and became part of the charter of the United Nations. 

The series of paintings ran in The Saturday Evening Post accompanied by essays from noted writers on four consecutive weeks: Freedom of Speech (February 20), Freedom of Worship (February 27), Freedom from Want (March 6), and Freedom from Fear (March 13). 

Eventually, the series was widely distributed in poster form and became instrumental in the U.S. Government War Bond Drive.


Things Have Changed...

It's profound how much things have changed since those days. 

Arguably both positive and negative changes have transpired over the years. I'd say much more good than bad...but as most things. it would depend on who you talk to.

The 'good ole' days' weren't quite as good as we remember'em. We tend to forget the ugly details in lieu of the good memories.  

Regardless of your perspective I think that we need to continue to make this country a better place for everyone to live. Things are changing and fast! But let's not throw out the good with the bad!

I still like oldies like Charlie Brown Christmas and the Grinch even though the times they came out of weren't perfect. 

I still say Merry Christmas even though I'm not religious. 

I like that my Jewish friends wish me a Happy Hanukkah, my Muslim friends wish me a Eid al-Fitr and my Buddhist wish me a good Bodhi Day (a holiday which falls on December 8th and celebrates the day in which Siddhartha Gautama sat underneath the Bodhi tree and attained enlightenment.) 

Even though I don't follow any of their traditions I appreciate them wishing me goodwill in their own traditional way. I don't take offense or feel as if they need to believe the same way that I do. 

Bugger Off...

Hey, if someone is extending me well wishes, I'll take'em, no matter the tradition or language. It's much better than them telling me to bugger off or trying to kick me in the pants! 
 
It's the PeaceWalker Way...

Being strong enough to be gracious to others, even (and especially) those who don't see the world the same way you do, is what being a PeaceWalker is all about.  

It's a good practice doing this with folks who are wishing you well in their own way. 

Believe it or not, expanding yourself to accept them and their praises w/o trying to change or judge them will help you keep your baseline when you have to deal with people who don't treat you nicely and/or even if they mean you harm. 

This goodwill to all mankind is tricky isn't it? 

It means everyone, even those who oppose you. 

You have to be good, and I'm not just talking on Santa's good list kind of good. I mean you have to know how to handle yourself during the stress of conflict and violence good. 

So...

If you'd like to learn more about this path. The Power of Protection, The Art of Influence and the Confidence of Clarity... 

Then get on the waiting list now. The membership opens to new members this week! 

...And there is a huge bonus in store for the first few folks who sign up!

Click here now!

https://peacewalker.net/about


Keep going,
~Craig

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Uncomfortable Situation

Image
  Funny pic (and movie) about a not so funny situation… In training as in Life, it’s better to treat people with dignity and respect. However… What does that look like in the moment? Being that I’m teaching a Women’s Assault Prevention and Response Workshop this weekend - it’s probably a good time to talk about… Uncomfortable Situations Let’s talk about training at the academy for a minute… We run open co-ed classes at the local academy. What does that mean? Men and women train together, but we don’t stop there. People of different skill levels, backgrounds, ethnicities, sexual orientations, careers, religious beliefs, political affiliations, ages, injuries, pre-existing conditions, life experience, training expectations etc. etc. train together! We ALL work together! Overall, I think it’s better this way. Of course sometimes there’s static, you know, conflicts, and misunderstanding. When something happens, most of the time it’s just that, a misunderstanding… Sometimes people ...
Read more

What'd You Say?!

Image
  You ever have a conversation with someone who really lifted your spirits? How about having a conversation with someone who’s a real downer?! We spend a lot of time talking to people. Matter of fact, talking is one of the most under rated and under trained aspects of protecting yourself. It’s much better if you can talk your way out of a bad situation, rather than having to resort to some form of physicality. This is why we spend so much time on sharing effective communication frameworks in the PeaceWalker course. But All of that Aside… When we think about communicating, we often just think about talking to other people. We forget how we talk to ourselves! You may have heard it called, “Self talk.” All day long we talk to ourselves. We carry on an inner dialogue in our heads that only we can hear. Unfortunately, this means it's very easy to be hard on ourselves. There's something about privacy which makes it easy to say the things you would never say out loud to another living...
Read more

Cracks in Your Foundation?!

Image
  Last night we had one of our weekly coaching calls for the PeaceWalker Evolution Course. What a great call! Rob and Jenn, a couple of the Level II - Momentum folks (people who graduated from Evolution last year and came back for the second Level.), were tasked to run the meeting as part of their training. I must say, they did a stand up job! The topic of discussion was building an Unshakable Foundation. WTH is that!? It’s basically the way you live. Your habits. What you do in your day to day life. How do you train your… Body  - Your physical health Mind  - What you’re filling your head with Mouth  - How you’re communicating Heart  - How you foster your relationships Why?! Without a solid foundation it’s difficult to remain balanced. When you are not balanced, it more difficult to stay calm, cool, and collected, (especially) under pressure. As I often say,  “You can’t hide crazy.” (It eventually comes out!) Regardless… You don’t have to be in the PeaceWal...
Read more