PAX HUMANA
Monks walk for peace, Texas to Washington DC, 2026
The clock said 3am, but I lay awake, my mind racing with unwanted thoughts: the murders in Minnesota, unlawful arrests, erosion of civil liberties, where it’s all headed, fearing for my children, for other peoples children, for the whole dang world. Not a good place to be at 3am. Or ever.
I needed to stop the free fall of fear, so I forced my mind to focus on something positive and peaceful. I’d been following the Buddhist monks’ 2,300 mile walk for peace, from Texas to Washington DC, so I thought about that. I thought how peace is what I needed in that moment. What we all need in this moment.
I lay in the darkness, contemplating the monks’ message: Be intentional about what you focus on. Breathe. Drop out of your racing mind and into your heart. Go about your day with peacefulness as your intention, and act from that place of peace.
You can’t skip over that last bit. It’s not just about wishing or hoping: You must take action to create your desire.
Peace doesn’t just happen. Peace, like love, is a decision: a decision followed by a million meaningful actions. I can decide not to let myself be ruled by fear or anger. I can choose my thoughts, how I spend my time, what I allow into my life, and how I show up for others.
I once read an article in The Atlantic that said, “Being ruled by the limbic system [which processes emotions] is how your dog lives. You can do better.” Our feelings do not have to rule our lives. (Mine did for much of my life; it’s not an easy or helpful way to live. Just ask my nervous system.) Moreover, external events do not dictate our feelings: we do, as hard as that may be to accept at times. We have a higher brain. We have a Higher Self. We can use them.
What does this look like in practical terms? For me, first and foremost, it means turning off the news and social media, which are tailored to grab your sympathetic nervous system by the throat and keep you spinning.
It means intentionally seeking out the beauty, goodness and deeper truth in your life.
It means being kind, talking to people, opening the door for someone. Everyone else is scared and having a hard time too; we make it all a little easier and better by cultivating community. And community is powerful—very powerful. Manufacturing and cultivating division is an ancient political strategy, and it’s very much in play today. It’s purposeful. And it benefits not you, not me, but the few in positions of great power.
And lastly, it means remembering that what you focus on increases, and choosing your thoughts wisely—not being ruled by your limbic system. This doesn’t mean you are blind to the egregious events happening in the world: it means that rather than hopelessly obsessing on those things, you shift your focus to what you value, and cultivating that. Or, in the words of Mahatma Gandhi, being the change we wish to see in the world.
Peace and love and light reside in each of us. Sometimes they can seem hard to reach, but they are there. They are the antidote to fear, the balm for suffering. Each morning, we can intentionally choose to be peaceful and kind with ourselves, with our neighbors, and with every being that we meet. We can make it our secret mission to do better, to choose how we inhabit our days. When we do this, we discover a bigger, better version of ourselves. We connect. And we create a ripple effect that expands exponentially.
This is how we shift our fear. This is how we embody and embrace true power. This is how we change our world.
