08-09-2006

Accountability

As I mentioned earlier, I just got back from the Religious Science International conference in Monterrey, CA.  I recieved the Peace Award.

I woke up on Friday morning, knowing I was going to be receiving the peace award at 9 am that day.  It was my big day!  I was also going to be giving a 5 min acceptance speech.

 I got up bright and early.   I went to turn on the shower and the shower part didn’t work.  I could get water out of the lower faucet (for the bath), but when I clicked it to come out of the shower faucet a rubber piece fell off and it wouldn’t work.  Of course, I needed to take a shower and wash my hair to look good for my acceptance speech.

 I called the front desk and told them my shower wasn’t working.  They said maintenence wouldn’t be in until 9am.  I started to get angry, thinking of all the things I wanted to say…

Then I remembered WHY I was showering.  Because I was GETTING THE PEACE AWARD…

So I said, “Okay, I’ll just wash my hair in the tub.”

So I got in the bathtub and washed my hair under the faucet.  Ultimately, it wasn’t the best situation, but I did get my hair washed.

It really made me think about the issue of accountability though.  When you know you are “publicly” receiving a peace award, it makes you “conscious” of how you show up in the world.

I used to give people bumper stickers that said, “I’m a peacemaker.”  Many people claimed they wouldn’t put that bumper sticker on their car, because they didn’t know if they could be accountable for it.

I believe it was Thomas Jefferson who said, “Whatever you do, act as if the whole world is watching.”

As a peace award recipient, I am really conscious of how I show up.  (especially in public, right?).  But what if we all acted like we were recipients of a peace award?

What if we all pretended we were wearing a shirt or a sign on our forehead that said, “I’m a peaceful person”  Would this change our actions?

Anyway, something to think about.

Posted by lisa in Uncategorized | RSS 2.0

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