Voila! The missing piece of Be Peace For Peace

Communityship and Peace:

And, just like that it happened....I had been waiting years to find the missing piece to Be Peace For Peace.  I was certain there was an overaraching concept that would be inclusive, but not limited to, Ubuntu.  Then a few weeks ago, on a completely unrelated Zoom call, someone mentioned Communityship; and I knew in an instant that I had what I needed to bring this work formally to the global community.  So, what is Communityship?  Well, it is a work in progress in terms of a definition but Henry Mintzberg introducted the topic as early as 2009.  He states that although Communityship is not a word in the English language, it should be - "to stand between individual leadership on one side and collective citizenship on the other".  He goes on to state that he believes that "we should never use the word 'leadership' without also discussing communityship".  In his summary he states that "we would do well, therefore, to see both these forces as working together in a socially responsible way to get past the insularity that exists in many organizations..  A healthy society balances leadership, communityship, and citizenship."    https://hbr.org/2009/07/rebuilding-companies-as-communities

So, taking this concept and applying it to Peace and Peace Leadership (Be Peace For Peace); I envision the following:  

Communityship being defined as an integral inclusive process with fair and equal representation of all community members, who are recognized as leaders, for the purposes of citizen and community flourishing.  The framework consists of both Being Peace and Doing Peace (Be Peace For Peace) and is applicable across sectors and cultures.  The tenets of Ubuntu such as recognition of our interconnectedness, employing compassion and forgiveness, and treating others with dignity (there are many more) will be infused at both the Being Peace and Doing Peace levels.  The Being Peace Levels include:  Self Awareness (being peaceful and aware), Self Mastery (mastery of being peaceful and aware), Relational Awareness (applying being peaceful and aware to at least one other), Relational Mastery (mastery of being peaceful and aware with others), infusing Attitudes, Behaviors, and Thoughts that support Be Peace For Peace and the ultimate outcome is Peace (Being Peace and Doing Peace) for the purposes of a flourishing community, comprised of flourishing, peaceful citizens.

An additional way to conceptualize Communityship and Peace Leadership is to look at the Integral Model offered by McIntyreMiller and Green, https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/education_articles/85/.  Giving a nod to Ken Wilber, they offer the following "Wilber’s integral theory All Quadrants, All Levels, All Lines (AQAL) Model offered a perspective that allows
one to place the complexities of leading and living in peace into a single framework. The AQAL Model, built
as a square with four quadrants, provides four distinct yet inter-related representations of the human
condition. Two quadrants, at the left, represent the interior conditions. The quadrants at the right are the
corresponding exterior representations. The top quadrants also relate to the individual level of the
framework. On the bottom, time is the collective expression.
The top left quadrant is known as the I– Quadrant and is characterized by individual interior experience.
How we perceive the world from our subjective realm of experience is mapped in this section of the AQAL
model. At the bottom left is the WE–Quadrant. While it also corresponds to interior experience, it is linked
to community and the collective nature of human interactions. How we operate and give meaning to the
groups closest to us are represented by this quadrant. The top right, known at the IT-Quadrant,
corresponds to an individual level of experience from a more objective perspective. It is the province of
theory, conceptual models, and behaviors. The quadrant shows how we describe and categorize our
experience. Finally, the bottom right is the exterior-collective level. Known as the ITS-Quadrant, it is the
location of our orientation to systems, larger macro processes, and our collective relationship to the
environment (Integral Naked, “Introduction to Integral Theory and Practice”)."

Applying this model to Peace Leadership, they state: "When AQAL is applied to peace leadership, the four quadrants of practice and experience are revealed.
The first is the practice of inner-work represented in the I-Quadrant. The nature of this quadrant calls
leaders to begin with an examination of their readiness to engage peace by determining the degree to
which they embody peace themselves. The WE-Quadrant is characterized by a collective engagement
oriented towards peace. It is experienced in the nature of community interactions, and relationships in the
community. The IT-Quadrant in peace leadership is the theories, behaviors, and practices that provide
visible evidence of peace in action at the individual level. When these actions move to the collective,
whereby systems of interaction are engaged and societal structures are challenged, the ITS-Quadrant of
peace leadership is brought into view. Though mapped as distinct elements, each process in peace
leadership is a part of a nested and interwoven whole. The AQAL model provides a way to hold the whole
in consciousness and study the practices needed to bring forward just action."

Thus, if we view the way forward to Peace as looking at Peace through the lens of Communityship and Leadership, we may be able to provide support to a global community that is becoming increasingly violent even in the face of more peace initiataives.  This perspective looks at what we desire for a global community and assuming that is peace and flourishing, it then further indicates that we need to incorporate our own attitudes/thoughts and behaviors with collective expression. 

This will be developed further and I hope it will be a useful guidpost for global peace leadership initiatives!  May Humanity, as it was conceptualized by Mandela, prevail!

Be Peace For Peace: Where are we at?

So here we are the day after the International Day of Peace, 2021; and it seems we have regressed?!!  Even the Secretary General of the UN is raising the red flag of concern on many issues that all impact peace.  Given all the resources and commitment that many have towards global peace, how can we have regressed?  Many are looking at the answer now to this question and theories abound.  I maintain that if we are not peace (ie if we cannot BE peace), we cannot truly DO peace (for peace).  I feel that people are less peaceful inside themselves than ever and that has been exacerbated by the Corona virus.  Many feel fearful right now at a time when we had an opportunity to go deep inside and be peaceful and take care of others in a truly Ubuntu kind of way (recognizing interconnectedness, empathy, compasssion....); but humanity blew it.  Or at least the US blew it.  People in this country resorted to hoarding and "me first" thinking which devolved into "me only" thinking.  Global interconnectedness was not part of the mentality of people who thought they were dealing with survival because they could not find toilet paper.  What can we say about humanity at this point?  I don't know how we can be FOR peace (ie do peace) if we cannot BE peace.  Being peaceful is not only about feeling peaceful within oneself, but it is about thinking and feeling peaceful thoughts towards others.  I keep going back to the basics.  We need to implement Being Peaceful measures in schools at a very early age through higher education so we can experience sustained change for peace.    In the meantime, reader; please do what you can to BE peace FOR peace!

Be Peace For Peace: Peacefullness

Ahhhh Be Peace For Peace just makes me want to exhale because it brings about a profound sense of peacefullness.  BTW, peacefullness is deliberately spelled with two "l's" because it signifies the fullness of being peace for the purpose of doing peace.  I have shared on my FB page (Ann Dinan) a great deal about how to Be Peace and bring about shifts of peacefullness.  For me mind, body, spirit balance can be started with ayurveda.  Specifically, I suggest that people visit the Banyan Botanicals site and learn about their ayurvedic dosha (body type).  This is important because if you need to bring your dosha into alignment, that will also bring your mind into alignment because your body will be balanced.  From that place, one can begin the Be Peace path of peacefullness by eating for one's type and bringing the body into balance.  When the body is in balance, the mind is not being triggered by the body (sugar, alcohol, caffeine...) and thus the mind can be more peacefull.  From that place, better decisions and actions can occur resulting in Being Peace FOR Peace.  This may take a month or so, but you will have a more balanced mind if you start to cleanse your body and eat for your type.  This is the first step to Being Peace!

Be Peace For Peace: Peace Leadership and the UN

Today I learned that Youssef Mahmoud wrote a paper about peace leadership and the UN.  Here is the link:

https://reliefweb.int/report/world/what-kind-leadership-does-sustaining-peace-require

In his article he discusses a great deal of what has been posted about here on this page in the last few months; namely that we need to frame or even reframe sustainable peace.  As readers of this page know, DPLI goes beyond sustainability and speaks about flourishing peace.  Mahmoud's application of these concepts to the UN is a good one, as he is referring to the internal leaders of the UN for one of the first times in history.  DPLI  maintains that the same model of Peace Leadership applies to those working in the peace keeping sector as well as those in business, politics... AND the model applies to the "how" of creating flourishing peace; of wich the leaders are a large part.  It is so refresshing to see Peace Leadership make the mainstream!  Let's keep it up!!!

Be Peace For Peace: The Ubuntu Connection

Today I was asked to write a few words about Ubuntu and thisis what I shared:

Be Peace For Peace:  The application of Ubuntu in both Being and Doing Peace:

Ubuntu.  The gift that Africa will give the world, according to Nelson Mandela.  I could not agree more.  Ubuntu is essentially a humanistic philosophy that incorporates many tenets but perhaps the most well known is interconnectedness.  Recognizing that we are all each other’s brothers and sisters and that we should treat each accordingly with dignity and respect is a major component of Ubuntu.  The need for Ubuntu is everywhere!  The need is with and for everyone!  The need is now!  The impact is huge.  One can start with self and the ripple effects can be felt many connections later.  Treating everyone, including oneself, with dignity, respect, compassion, and recognizing their humanness are vitally important to employing Ubuntu.  I am who I am because of who we all are.  Peace.  Peace Leadership. Namaste.

 Ubuntu is the cornerstone of Peace leadership, as I am creating and working with it.