Stop Signs

Jessica Maxwell, my new friend who wrote the delicious Rolling Around Heaven, sent this to me. It goes perfectly with the ideas of PeaceWomen.

One day my friends and I were contemplating an excerpt from Alice Walker’s We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For. After you read the passage, perhaps you’ll feel as we did and decide to take action. One aspect of our action is sharing the message with our friends and family.

I listened to a CD called Shamanic Navigation by John Perkins. In it he talks about the Swa people of the Amazon. These are indigenous people who’ve lived in the Amazon rain forest for thousands of years. They tell us that in their society men and women are considered equal but very different. Man, they say has a destructive nature: it is his job therefore to cut down trees when firewood or canoes are needed. His job also to hunt down and kill animals when there is need for more protein. His job to make war, when that becomes a necessity. The woman’s nature is thought to be nurturing and conserving. Therefore her role is to care for the home and garden, the domesticated animals and the children. She inspires men. But perhaps her most important duty is to tell the men when to stop.

It is the woman who says: Stop. We have enough firewood and canoes, don’t cut down any more trees. Stop. We have enough meat; don’t kill any more animals. Stop. This war is stupid and using up too many of our resources. Stop. Perkins says that when the Swa are brought to this culture they observe that it is almost completely masculine. That the men have cut down so many trees and built so many excessively tall buildings that the forest itself is dying; they have built roads without end and killed animals without number. When, asked the Swa are the women going to say Stop?

Indeed. When are the women, and the Feminine within women and Men, going to say Stop?

We decided to say STOP. Now. We have destroyed enough. Instead, what can we do to create and inspire. As a group, we discussed the things we are currently doing and the things we could do. We list several of them on the next page for you to ponder.

Are you ready to say Stop? What kinds of things are you already doing? What would you like to do? Big things, little things. They all add up and contribute to the greater good. We’d love to hear about what you come up with, so let me know.

If it resonates with you, please pass this along to anyone you think would appreciate it. Let’s see if we can collectively say STOP. Bring the world back into balance and bring more peace and love into our personal/family’s lives, our community, and the rest of the world.

We stop using international banks.

We are using local banks or credit unions.

We stop shopping at _____________.

We shop at locally owned stores whenever possible.

Stop using toxic household cleaners

Using baking soda, borax, apple cider vinegar etc.

Using as much local produce at possible

Putting in a garden

For spiritual nourishment, visit Dr. Susan Corso’s website and blog, Seeds for Sanctuary. Follow her on Twitter @PeaceCorso and Friend her on Facebook. And discover your own Inner Peace at, To Me Peace Is … What is Peace to You?

The Wheaton Experience of PeaceWomen

Wow is the first word that comes to me from our PeaceWomen experience at Wheaton. Wow, was it fun! Wow, did we learn! Wow, we can’t wait to do it again!

My friend Clinton O’Dell sponsored us at Wheaton College in Norton, MA. That’s Clinton and me watching auditions above. Wheaton is a small, beautiful college. We were given lovely living quarters in Austin House, a Bauhaus design, sprawling and gorgeous house. In the middle of a lush forest, we were surrounded by full-length glass walls giving us a soothing view. We were totally comfortable.

The first day we tore off to campus to do all the photocopying needed to prepare for our auditions. That Monday was the first day after Spring Break ended. Students were just getting back into the swing of things and we ended up with one student for our auditions! A little scary, but he seeded the process. Lesson learned: don’t go right after break!

We were generously invited to teach in Intermediate Acting by Elise Morrison, the visiting Brown graduate student who was covering the class for their usual professor who was out on maternity leave. Elise was so enthusiastic. Sheriden opened the 80 minute class with a Viewpoints exercise, got the students moving, and then we waltzed into the Cold Readings instruction we’d planned.

The newbie actors took to it like ducks to water. Eventually, we handed out the scripts for PeaceWomen. The students read just the first few paragraphs of each and they were hooked! Couldn’t wait to sign up and be in the reading. Saved … or so we thought, but we still didn’t have the full complement of peace women we needed.

I asked Professor David Fox who is directing The Pillowman if he’d play Jody Williams. It meant he had to cancel his rehearsal—which he did!! That freed up two more actors and we were cast. Whew. One of the coolest things about the show is that we cast it color-, gender-, and age-blind.

One major bit of learning: plan, oh yes, plan, and then let go, let go, let go. Spirit had something much better in mind than we did. Besides, we love to have undergrads as well as professors, staff and grad students participate in PeaceWomen.

That afternoon we saw as many of the cast as we could for 20 minute rehearsals. Then we blew home to change and come to do our evening presentations. Sheriden was going to teach Viewpoints more in depth. I was going to speak on Rhetoric and the Practice of Peace. We were reeling we were so tired.

So what happened? No one came, and were we relieved! Clinton said it best the next day. “What’s important is the reading.” He was right. The more people who are touched by a peace dialogue the better. Lesson learned—we’ll not be offering additional classes again. The work is PeaceWomen in itself.

The next day we all met for a group rehearsal and it went like clockwork. They’d all worked on their monologues the night before. They took direction beautifully. The audience loved it, and I did a swell talk-back afterward (so I got to give a mini-version of my lecture from the night before.)

We also found out that the Evelyn Danzig Haas ’39 Visiting Artists Program is quite the lah-di-dah! Guess who’s coming to Wheaton after PeaceWomen? Suzan-Lori Parks!

Not only that but I think we’ve got two more invitations to present PeaceWomen. How cool is that! If PeaceWomen belongs in your community, beloved, get in touch: susan@susancorso.com.

For spiritual nourishment, visit Dr. Susan Corso’s website and blog, Seeds for Sanctuary. Follow her on Twitter @PeaceCorso and Friend her on Facebook. And discover your own Inner Peace at, To Me Peace Is … What is Peace to You?

Wrath

Seeds XII, 13

Seed: Wrath

These next several weeks of Seeds are based on a mystical interpretation of the seven deadly sins of Catholic fame. Let us consider them upgraded …

Wrath—also an old-fashioned word. The traditional meaning of wrath is the vice of excessive anger or rage, and may be described as inordinate and uncontrolled feelings of hatred and anger. The etymology of the word travels a long, diverse path from Old English to Old Norse and comes from the past tense of writhe. And isn’t that what wrath does to a soul? Causes it to writhe in discomfort?

Because there are seven of these spiritual warnings, I couldn’t help but think of the seven chakras. I think wrath corresponds to the third chakra, that of issues around will and power of all kinds. This energy center deals with the human will and the human ego.

What really causes excessive anger? Again, our old friend fear. The feeling of willfulness is one of bending the world to our own preferences. When we are truly willing something, we give it our hopes and our fears. What will does is help us make choices.

I’ll never forget the day when, after struggling for years with the idea of Free Will, I heard my divine spark say to me, thoroughly exasperated, I might add, “You are not free, until you will!” What?! “Your will, dear girl, is your yes and your no. Choose and choose again. Ad infinitum.” The wisest practice of will is to shift from willful to willing and watch how God does your life as you.

Let us upgrade wrath to a willingness for life, fuller experience, greater fulfillment, more Spirit.

Willingness for life is a virtue.

Be passion,

Susan Corso

Dr. Susan Corso

Seeds are remarkable gifts. Sown in consciousness, they bring you to the most important part of your being—your Divine Spark.

Check out the Seeds Archive for past messages of inspiration.

When you have friends you would like added to the Seeds e-mail list, send their addresses to me at susan@susancorso.com.

For spiritual nourishment, please visit my website www.susancorso.com

and my blogs Seeds for Sanctuary, Ode Magazine, and The Huffington Post

and

join me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter: @PeaceCorso.

Starlight

Ordinarily, I don’t really think of myself as *star* material. Then, I read this anonymous quote:

“To be a star, you must shine your own light, following your own path, and don’t worry about the darkness, for that is when the stars shine brightest.”

We just got back from Wheaton last night, and because I’m writing this in advance before we even left, I can’t tell you how it went, but I will write about it over the weekend and let you know on Monday.

The thing is that the star quote made me think about that star quality that people talk about. It’s known as all sorts of things: charisma, star quality, sex appeal, It. Whatever. It’s something that each being has here on Earth when we do what we love.

Sheriden and I both love the theatre, and have since we were little kids. We’ve both worked in the theatre in all kinds of capacities since we were very young. I think that qualifies as shining our own light. The theatre as an artform inspires us both.

Sheriden began her career in high school as an actor; so did I. Her path took her to the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis and an M.F.A. degree. Mine took me to the O’Neill Theatre Center in Waterford, Connecticut, and on to Broadway. No matter the path, as long as it’s your own, you will shine.

Now to the nitty-gritty. Has there been darkness on our paths? Hell, yes. And hell it was sometimes, the hell of darkness, uncertainty, hesitation, self-doubt. We all have it. Life is not outlined for humans, we make it up as we go along, and consider ourselves fortunate when there’s at least a subject we love.

Anonymous is absolutely correct. Don’t worry about the darkness. We all experience it. Shine your own light for that truly is what makes the stars visible. Just shine, and keep on shining for your own sake. Shine as brightly as you can, and thank God for the darkness which lets the rest of the world see your brightness.

Shine on, you star, you!

PeaceWomen at Wheaton College

Well, this is like the day that has been planned so long that I never thought it would come, and yet, here it is. Last summer, we were invited to be guest artists at Wheaton College in Norton, MA to present PeaceWomen by our friend and colleague theatre designer Clinton O’Dell.

As you read this, we are doing our residency. We are Susan Corso (me) and theatre director (and sweetie) Sheriden Thomas, head of acting at Tufts University. We drove down last night, and this morning, we are having auditions for the reading which is tomorrow night, March 23rd, at 6 PM, in Weber Theatre. Admission is free.

Little did I know, when I heard that gentle voice in my mind, now some seventeen years ago, that it would lead me here.

PeaceWomen was born out of a dreadful personal situation in my life—domestic violence. Incredulous, I heard the whisper from within, “You could have peace instead of this.” I began to read the published works of the women Nobel  Peace Prize Laureates. Their words inspired me, encouraged me. Then, they wouldn’t let me go. Either the women or the words!

As I lived with them, I discovered that women make peace differently from men. Women make peace for personal reasons. Wangari Maathei says, “In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness.” That’s why I’m an inner peace activist.

And that’s why, when Clinton invited us to join the roster of the prestigious Evelyn Danzig Haas ’39 Visiting Artists Program for the spring of 2010, we jumped at the chance! The more young people who understand that peace is a choice we can all make, the better.

For spiritual nourishment, visit Dr. Susan Corso’s website and blog, Seeds for Sanctuary. Follow her on Twitter @PeaceCorso and Friend her on Facebook. And discover your own Inner Peace at, To Me Peace Is … What is Peace to You?

Lust

Seeds XII, 12

Seed: Lust

These next several weeks of Seeds are based on a mystical interpretation of the seven deadly sins of Catholic fame. Let us consider them upgraded …

Lust—also an old-fashioned word. The traditional meaning of lust is the vice of excessive thoughts of a sexual nature. The etymology of the word is from Latin roots meaning to long for.

Because there are seven of these spiritual warnings, I couldn’t help but think of the seven chakras. I think lust corresponds to the second chakra, that of issues around passions of all kinds. Sometimes known as the dan tien, it deals with the energy of life force.

What really causes excessive passion? Fear. Surprising? Stay with me. The feeling of passion is one of several that lets us feel as if we are truly alive. When we are passionate about something, we give it our focus, our energy. What lust does is help us feel alive.

The day I wrote this ended a week of clients bringing up all kinds of sexual issues in our sessions together. No mistakes. The wisest action with lust is to name it passion and follow the energy of passion slowly, deliberately consciously, kindly.

Let us upgrade lust to a passion for life, fuller experience, greater fulfillment, more Spirit.

Passion for life is a virtue.

Be passion,

Susan Corso

Dr. Susan Corso

Seeds are remarkable gifts. Sown in consciousness, they bring you to the most important part of your being—your Divine Spark.

Check out the Seeds Archive for past messages of inspiration.

When you have friends you would like added to the Seeds e-mail list, send their addresses to me at susan@susancorso.com.

For spiritual nourishment, please visit my website www.susancorso.com

and my blogs Seeds for Sanctuary, Ode Magazine, and The Huffington Post

and

join me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter: @PeaceCorso.

St. Patrick’s Day

Ever since my first March 17th in New York City, I have avoided St. Patrick’s Day. You see, I’m a redhead without a speck of Irish in me, but try telling that to an Irish-American! So this year, I decided to check out the antecedents of the holy day and learn something about it in the hope of upgrading my experience.

Wikipedia is, as ever, a fount. And, speaking of which, one of the major public observances of St. Paddy’s, as it is also known, is the ‘greening’ of public waterways. From fountains to lakes, to canals to rivers, municipalities all over the United States ‘green’ their waters. Anyone else see another ‘greening’ idea here?

The good Saint himself lived from 385-461 CE. According to legend, he used local greenery—the shamrock—to teach the pre-Christian Irish about the Holy Trinity. It was clever, and something Jesus Himself might have done. Local color, let’s call it. Truth is, the “God in Three Persons, Blessed Trinity” is a tough concept to explain. The three leaves of a shamrock made a striking visual image of how all three were really one.

Of course, on The Day, folks of all stripes “wear the green” to indicate solidarity with the Irish, the Saint, the Trinity and the celebrations which can involve a LOT of green beer and can get pretty raucous. Traditionally, those who aren’t wearing of the green get a pinch instead. For some reason, in the Northeastern U.S., peas are planted on this day.

And then there are the Parades! Parades galore, all over the country, despite the fact that this is not an official holiday. Here’s some of Wiki’s list …

Boston, Massachusetts, since 1737
New York City, since 1762
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, since 1771
Morristown, New Jersey, since 1780
New Orleans, Louisiana, since 1809
Buffalo, New York, since 1811
Savannah, Georgia, since 1813
Carbondale, Pennsylvania, since 1833
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, since 1843
Chicago, Illinois, since 1843
New Haven, Connecticut, since 1842
Saint Paul, Minnesota, since 1851
San Francisco, California, since 1852
Scranton, Pennsylvania, since 1862
Cleveland, Ohio, since 1867
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, since 1869
Kansas City, Missouri, since 1873
Butte, Montana, since 1882
Rolla, Missouri, since 1908

Two of my favorites are the World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Held annually on historic Bridge Street, it became famous in the 1940s when Ripley’s Believe It or Not declared it “The Shortest Street in the World.”

But the absolute BEST St. Patrick’s Day Parade is, of course, up 5th Avenue in New York City. It is always led by the U.S. 69th Infantry Regiment. Here, let’s let Wiki tell the rest:

“The Commissioner of the parade always asks the Commanding Officer if the 69th is ready, to which the response is, “The 69th is always ready.”
“New York politicians—or those running for office – are always found prominently marching in the parade. Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch once proclaimed himself ‘Ed O’Koch’ for the day, and he continued to don an Irish sweater and march every year up until 2003, even though he was no longer in office.
“The parade is organized and run by the Ancient Order of Hibernians. The parade has also drawn controversy for many years for its exclusion of openly gay organizations.”

The Irish, like so many other ethnicities—or really, any self-identified group—are no strangers to discrimination. At this precious moment in time, we gay folk are on the radar because of our desire to marry one another.

So I’m upgrading my St. Patrick’s Day celebration this year. Instead of it being a secular holy day about one ethnic group, I’m starting my day with prayer about discrimination around the world. And I’m wearing green. Not for the Irish, but for the green marble we know as Earth.

Oh God, let us all find ourselves and everyone else in a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow in a world on a healthy planet in which cruel discrimination is a thing of the past. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Ch-ch-changes

This David Bowie song has been visiting my mental songscape for a few days. No idea why, really, but it was strong enough that I looked it up on YouTube. Have a listen to this:

Turn and face the strange. I might rewrite that (and it won’t scan):

Turn and face the stranger. That stranger in your bathroom mirror, the most fascinating being you know.

And remember,

Gluttony

Seeds XII, 11

Seed: Gluttony

These next several weeks of Seeds are based on a mystical interpretation of the seven deadly sins of Catholic fame. Let us consider them upgraded …

Gluttony—that’s an old-fashioned word. The traditional meaning of gluttony is the vice of excessive eating. The etymology of the word is from Latin roots meaning to gulp down.

Because there are seven of these spiritual warnings, I couldn’t help but think of the seven chakras. I think gluttony corresponds to the first chakra, that of survival and tribal issues. Sometimes known as the base chakra, it deals with the basics of life.

What really causes excessive eating? Hunger. Not necessarily hunger for food, but hunger for life. What a glutton does is hunger for more life force.

The morning I wrote this, I was reading Andrew Harvey’s book on Spiritual Activism called The Hope. In it, he quotes the Taittirya Upanishad. A son approaches his father to ask about life. His father tells him, “First, learn about food.”

Let us upgrade gluttony to a hunger for more life, fuller experience, greater fulfillment, more Spirit.

Be passion,

Susan Corso

Dr. Susan Corso

Seeds are remarkable gifts. Sown in consciousness, they bring you to the most important part of your being—your Divine Spark.

Check out the Seeds Archive for past messages of inspiration.

When you have friends you would like added to the Seeds e-mail list, send their addresses to me at susan@susancorso.com.

For spiritual nourishment, please visit my website www.susancorso.com

and my blogs Seeds for Sanctuary, Ode Magazine, and The Huffington Post

and

join me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter: @PeaceCorso.

A Not To Do List

When I read this sentence from Swami Beyondananda, I laughed out loud all alone in my office.

“Make a Not To Do list; then don’t do the items on your list.”

If I were going to make a Not To Do list, what would go on it? Try these.

Don’t …

Make war

Lose your temper

Snap at others

Despair

Whine or complain or criticize

Judge

Hit anyone

Discount the good

Neglect God/dess

And those are just off the top of my head!

I most especially appreciate the Swami’s actionable suggestion. Don’t do them!

And, because I, like you, know that humans don’t not do things very well, I have to add that every single one of these items would be easy to check off if we all just made a commitment to inner peace. Try www.tomepeaceis.com